A Walmart Canada store is back in operation with some new features for shoppers.
The location in Mississauga, Ontario, is the largest store in the country at 223,000 square feet and was closed for 18 months to allow for renovations.
Back in 2020, Walmart announced a five-year, $3.5 billion plan for store infrastructure and customer experience transformation, and the Mississauga location marks the midpoint of the investment.
Some new features include a hot meals-to-go counter called Hot Kitchen, a Health hub with a digital assistant for customer support and special health-focused merchandising displays, and enhanced in-store purchase and pick-up services for electronics and big purchase items. The store has also beefed up its electronic integration with dynamic shelf labeling featuring product videos, reviews, and recommendations. In addition, there are now digital store navigation screens to assist shoppers in locating departments and products.
Walmart is already calling the Hot Kitchen a huge traffic driver.
The Walmart Health hub combines the pharmacy, vision center, and medical clinic for a one-stop shop for health and wellness. It is supported by the retailer’s digital pharmacy app, which can schedule pharmacy and eye appointments, find health and wellness products, and has a vitamin recommendation option.
The dynamic shelving, which Walmart calls “SmartShelf,” is part of a global test and consists of a 28-foot device with an LCD screen at each shelf and provides product ratings and reviews.
