Lost Inside a Walmart Store? Just Follow the Blinking Lights
LED system already assists employees as part of retailer's tech upgrades
A light flashes green for an employee in a Walmart store in Grapevine, Texas.
Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg
It’s a common headache: Shoppers comb through the cavernous aisles of a massive Walmart store, unable to find what they’re looking for. Soon, some will be able to follow a blinking light to the right shelf.
The world’s biggest retailer is testing digital labels that light up when activated with an app. The devices are already used by employees at a few dozen stores, where they flash green to help shelf stockers and blue to assist product pickers fulfilling online orders. Walmart is planning a pilot for customers later this year (no word yet on the color).
The lights are possible after a years-long effort behind the scenes in which Walmart Inc. has been automating the warehouses that supply stores and online merchandise. The goal is to improve profitability and productivity, and prove to investors that the world’s largest retailer isn’t just a slow-growing behemoth.