BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Innovation is a priority for Walmart stores, according to a Chicago Business Journal report, and currently the company is focusing on its 186 outlets across Illinois. The Arkansas-based corporation has announced that cutting-edge innovations are being rolled out this year to help make the jobs of nearly 55,000 Illinois Walmart employees easier and more efficient, while at the same time satisfying thousands of customers every day. This year, the big-box retailer will introduce immersive virtual reality training at every Walmart location in Illinois. Prior to putting the VR training in all stores, Walmart had only used this technology in approximately 200 training academies nationwide. To make customer check-out easier, Walmart’s largest super centers in Illinois will be outfitted with cellular devices and Bluetooth printers to take customers’ payments wherever they are in the store and provide a receipt via print, email or text. Customers needing to return an item from a third-party vendor that was purchased at a Walmart store in Illinois will be able to drop off those items at Walmart instead of working directly with the third-party seller. Customers simply package the item at home and bring it to an Illinois Walmart store, where an associate will help print a return label and send the item back to the seller. In addition, the company is testing a merchandise unloading system called “FAST” at nine Walmart super centers. The current Walmart unloading system is a highly-manual process that has remained the same for the past two decades. FAST intends to update that process by automatically scanning and removing items from delivery trucks based on priority. This will allow store employees to spend less time in the back room and more time on the sales floor with customers. “We’re proud of the innovations we’ve made and want to build on the success of 2018 while constantly looking for better ways to serve our customers,” said Dale Murphy, regional general manager for Walmart.
Walmart is to begin utilising virtual reality (VR) training for employees in its stores throughout Illinois. It is part of the US retailer’s overall plan in the state to introduce technological innovations intended to help its employees' work become simpler and more efficient, and ultimately to benefit its customers. Walmart previously used VR at its training academies across the country but is now implementing it closer to its Illinois workforce of nine people.