Walmart rolls out digital shelf lighting to speed up store navigation

The tool, dubbed Shop to Light, follows a successful pilot program that recorded 5 million user interactions since its summer debut. By navigating to a specific item in the Walmart app, customers can command the corresponding shelf label to flash, effectively highlighting the product on the shelf. The retailer is extending this capability to employees through Pick to Light and Stock to Light, which streamline order fulfillment and inventory management.

Greg Cathey, senior vice president of digital transformation, frames the initiative as a way to free up store associates for more direct customer interaction. Walmart plans to complete the installation of digital shelf labels across its entire chain by year-end, replacing traditional paper tags. Currently, over 4,300 locations utilize the system, which allows for centralized, automated price updates. While the technology handles pricing overnight, Cathey emphasizes that human oversight remains central to the process, ensuring accuracy across the 90% of store sections already converted to digital displays.