Category: Technology

Grocery stores are constantly trying to reinvent the wheel.

Consumers have been introduced to googly-eyed robots roaming aisles, the expansion of self-checkout, the rollback of self-checkout, and increasingly fast grocery delivery in recent years, as major grocers try to stand out in an industry known for low profit margins.

Not to be left behind, Walmart has touted a “store of the future” concept for years as it opens and remodels hundreds of locations, including 32 in Pennsylvania this year, to have better layouts and services that aim to make the shopping experience seamless.

“By modernizing our stores, we’re making shopping faster, easier, and more convenient, all while empowering our teams to serve customers better and creating local opportunity,” said Annie Walker, senior vice president of the East Business Unit at Walmart, in a statement announcing the Pennsylvania investments this year.

The Walmart Supercenter in Warminster is the latest “store of the future,” unveiling its remodel this month.

I tried it out to see what the future holds for shoppers. Spoiler alert: It’s nothing out of The Jetsons, but a handful of customers told me they liked the improvements nonetheless.

“A lot of stuff is different, but it’s easier to find things,” said Cuong Kim, 41, of the new layout, walking out with a bag of toiletries.

Sparky, where are the fiber gummies?

Walking in, the store doesn’t feel that different from counterparts in South Jersey or Philadelphia. The polished concrete floors remain the same and there are an Auntie Anne’s and a Subway near the entrance.

Still, I could see the company followed through on its “elevated assortment of healthy foods” promise. There were meat and cheese snack packs galore, along with a wide range of ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches in the grab-and-go section.

Because better online/in-store integration is part of the company’s “store of the future” pitch, I brought an admittedly specific grocery list with me to test out Sparky, the company’s generative AI shopping assistant launched last year, another trend major retailers are adopting.

Though the Walmart app provided a handy static map of the store, Sparky was not helpful in helping me find mango pulp for a cheesecake I’m making or my fiber gummies, which I will need if my rich dessert plans move forward.

While Sparky pointed me to several fiber gummy brands, it was less helpful in telling me what aisle they were in.

“Your best bet is to ask a store associate or check the Walmart app’s store map when you arrive,” Sparky said.

On the mango pulp front, Sparky showed me several options, which got my hopes up because I’d never used this item and was worried it might be hard to find.

Alas, none of Sparky’s suggestions were in the store, but could be shipped by the next day — helpful information if I weren’t already on site.

To be fair, one shopper told me that while Sparky doesn’t have a 100% hit rate, it is not a total dud.

He was right. Seltzer, another item on the list, was in aisle A22.

As I walked around the store, I noticed some aisles, like the beverage sections, could fit three shopping carts across. That’s some Costco-level width and another “store of the future” feature.

Even so, wider lanes, a semi-useful shopping assistant, and more snack packs didn’t make my shopping experience feel that futuristic, so I asked Sparky: “What’s new about my Walmart? I heard it’s the store of the future but not sure what’s changed.”

It reiterated some of what I’d already seen and highlighted the enhanced pickup and express delivery services. I recently had a laptop charger delivered from a different Walmart location and I can confirm it arrived in less than an hour.

Ol’ Sparky, however, warned me “not every feature is at every store yet.” For example, Walmart plans to roll out digital shelf labels that allow rollbacks and price changes to appear in real time, but were nowhere to be found in Warminster.

I also asked an employee what was new with the store to fact-check Sparky.

“It’s little things,” said the cheerful associate. “There’s more [grab and go] coolers, more cash registers, and a bigger electronics section.”

A reminder that no one knows a store better than the people who work there.

What we learned

It seems the people who would get the most use out of Sparky are those ordering online for delivery or planning their haul ahead of time, checking to see if their desired items are in store. These features, however, are not exclusive to the 32 Walmarts up for a makeover.

Yet while not exactly futuristic, shoppers in Warminster certainly appreciated the less tech-centered changes, such as the added breathing room as they shopped in clearly labeled sections.

Kim, the shopper who traveled from Northeast Philadelphia for his haul, also reminded me that sometimes the most seamless shopping experience is pretty simple. He’s not an app user like some of the other customers I talked to. But he travels to Warminster because very few items require waiting for an associate to unlock them from glass cases.

“It’s easier to shop here,” he said. “In Philly, they lock everything up.”