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Walmart is expanding the use of its digital shelf labels with three new features designed to help shoppers and store employees find items faster. The tools — backed by the retailer’s broader push into AI and automation — will reach all stores by the holiday season, a critical period for inventory and service speed.
How the features work
The new capabilities connect the Walmart app and store systems to the chain’s electronic price tags. Shoppers can use an app-based locator that lights up the corresponding shelf label so they can spot an item quickly. Associates will see similar signals to speed order picking and restocking.
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- Shop to Light: A customer-facing tool that maps a product in the app, guides the shopper to the correct aisle and flashes the product’s digital shelf label to reveal its location.
- Pick to Light: A fulfillment aid that directs associates to the right shelf when picking items for online orders.
- Stock to Light: A stocking feature that helps employees identify where to replenish merchandise.
Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of digital transformation, described the approach as “people-led, tech-powered,” adding that the technology is meant to free associates to spend more time serving customers. “We always have a human in the loop,” he said, emphasizing human oversight in the process.
Scale, early results and timing
Walmart already equips more than 4,300 stores with electronic shelf labels and says the system will be deployed across the rest of the chain by year-end. The company estimates its stores carry roughly 120,000 items, and roughly 90% of store sections currently use digital labels.
The Shop to Light feature began a limited rollout this summer. According to Walmart, customers have triggered the shelf flashes about 5 million times during that pilot period. Cathey said the three features will be available companywide in time for holiday shopping, and that they represent “a big win” for saving time in stores.
Walmart declined to share financial details of the program, but the company frames the tools as part of a coordinated effort to improve convenience and speed across in-store and online experiences.
Technology push, scrutiny and policy concerns
The digital-label rollout is one element of a larger technology investment at Walmart. The retailer has deployed AI agents for shoppers, automated parts of its supply chain, invested in RFID tags, modernized stores and tested drone deliveries that can reach customers in about 30 minutes in select markets.
CEO John Furner said on Walmart’s latest earnings call that the company is already seeing returns from those tech investments. “We believe AI will improve nearly every part of our business by making shopping better, and our associates’ work easier,” he said.
Still, the shift to electronic pricing has prompted regulatory and public scrutiny. Lawmakers in several states, including New Jersey, have moved to limit the use of digital shelf labels amid concerns about dynamic pricing and data collection. Walmart said the labels are in use in all of its New Jersey stores and called some restrictions an “overreaction,” arguing the displays are simply a modern way to show prices.
Furner addressed pricing concerns directly in an open letter, saying the company intends to “price the product, not the person” and will not use personal customer information to set individual prices. “Your income, shopping history, urgency or what we think you could pay won’t change the price,” he wrote.
Cathey, who took the transformation role about a year ago, said his priority has been to speed technology deployment while preserving human judgment. He framed the investment as part of a convergence between physical and online retail. “It’s not one or the other anymore. It’s both,” he said, pointing to efforts that aim to make stores and e-commerce functions operate as a single system.
