Walmart Opens Model Supercenter Dubbed The Store of the Future

What Happened?

Walmart issued a press release highlighting the opening of its newest supercenter in Cypress, Texas. The new shopping center features several new technologies and designs that Walmart calls ‘The Store of the Future.’ Walmart’s President and CEO said ‘This isn’t just a ribbon cutting. It’s a commitment to the future, an investment in a community and new job opportunities.’

According to an official statement by Walmart, the new supercenter is designed to make shopping faster, easier and more connected, utilizing reimagined layouts, expanded services and innovative technology — all aimed at helping customers shop how, when and where they want. 

Why it Matters

The new supercenter blends modern technology into the physical design of the store as well as the shopping experience for customers. Customers will see QR codes throughout the store that unlock digital tools, resources, and instant access to an expanded assortment of goods and services.

Customers will also be able to use the Walmart app for ‘scheduling TV mounting, enhancing registries or booking tire installation.’ The new approach leverages modern mobile communications technologies, like smartphones and tablets, to help consumers get answers to questions and handle requests electronically, which eliminates the need to find a human associate. 

The idea is that the electronic shopping experience will be faster and more convenient for customers, while also freeing up human associates to focus on other tasks such as stocking shelves or adjusting displays. Yet despite the increased level of technology incorporated into the design of the new supercenter, the store will add three hundred jobs to the local community.

Fears that more technology in retail will eliminate human workers have been growing since the pandemic. When many retailers first began utilizing kiosks and other electronic terminals on a mass scale to conduct business previously done by humans. But the Walmart model is designed so that human workers and new technologies can coexist by changing how things get done, not reducing the number of human workers required to accomplish work. 

While the new integrated technology will probably enable shoppers to get more things done more quickly, they also create new vulnerabilities. A system dependent on apps to conduct business is more vulnerable to cyber attacks and disruptions due to loss of internet service or malicious software. Cyber criminals may find new ways to conduct illicit activities without even entering the store.

How it Affects You

The shopping experience at retail stores is already changing, and the new Walmart ‘Store of the Future’ is just the latest step in a broader trend towards incorporating more technology into retail sales environments. The Walmart model blends digital and brick and mortar retail in a new way, and it remains to be seen whether this new approach will appeal to consumers as much as the company hopes.