Walmart adds Shop to Light for easier product finding

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Walmart is expanding the use of LED lights built into its digital shelf labels to help customers find products and to make stocking and online order fulfillment easier for associates.

The retailer’s new Shop to Light feature lets customers use the Walmart app to find an item in a store. The request identifies the product’s shelf location and activates a small LED on the corresponding digital shelf label, helping shoppers spot the item.

The technology builds on two similar tools already used by Walmart associates. Stock to Light lets employees activate shelf-label LEDs on a mobile device to indicate where products should be stocked, while Pick to Light helps associates locate specific products when filling online pickup and delivery orders.

Walmart said the tools are designed to reduce the time spent searching for products, especially in categories where similar sizes, flavors and varieties are grouped together.

All three features use LEDs already built into Walmart’s digital shelf labels, which replace traditional paper price tags. The retailer has been rolling out these electronic labels across its U.S. stores to make approved price updates more efficient and to help keep shelf and checkout prices aligned.

Walmart also emphasized that the digital shelf labels do not independently determine or change prices. The company said prices are set centrally, and associates review approved changes.

The retailer said the labels operate on a closed system and do not contain cameras or microphones, collect customer information, or track shoppers. Walmart also said it does not use personal customer information to determine the prices individual customers see or pay in stores or online.