What’s next for Walmart’s tech?

Retailers seem to have one eye on Walmart and the other eye on the rest of the competition, and for good reason.

From a tech perspective, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer spent most of this year making headlines, including turning a Sam’s Club store in the Dallas-Fort Worth area cashier-less, investing in digital shelf labels, and setting up a pay-by-bank system for customers.

But what’s ahead? How will Walmart orient itself from a tech perspective in 2025?

Phil Lempert, founder and CEO of SupermarketGuru, doesn’t see Walmart investing heavily in cashierless options. Instead, he said he sees the retailer getting into the smart cart game, adding smart carts like the ones pioneered by Instacart and Amazon.

Lempert also sees Walmart capitalizing on 2D barcodes. Instead of current barcodes, which have 10 digits, 2D barcodes are imprinted with thousands of digits, allowing retailers to respond to product recalls faster, flag items approaching their sell-by date, and offer discounts.

On the consumer end, 2D barcodes can provide information on nutrition, potential allergens, recipes, and promotional offers. Then at checkout, the barcodes could be used to add loyalty points and apply coupons. 

Supply-chain standards organization GS1 US released a Barcodes Capabilities Test Kit back in 2022 to help retailers gear up for 2D barcodes, and Walmart and Wegmans have pilot programs on the tech. 

Walmart appears to be the retail leader in this area and has already addressed some of the tech’s challenges. The retailer could soon be on the verge of a full-scale rollout.

“I think you will see Walmart really leading the pack on that,” said Lempert. “That’s going to be a heavy tech investment for them.”

Marc Scott, an associate professor at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, predicts that Walmart will lean further into artificial intelligence to improve the customer shopping journey. Scott says he sees the retailer developing and pushing AI voice features that allow consumers to more easily place repeat shopping orders.

“I think Walmart will leverage technology to gain significant supply chain efficiencies and improve customer service and the customer experience in really exciting ways in the future,” Scott said.

Supply chain enhancements are critical for retailers, and Walmart could be doing more in this area, said Dinesh Gauri, a marketing professor at the University of Buffalo.

Gauri points to Walmart Connect and Walmart Luminate—two platforms aimed at suppliers which have been in development over the last couple of years and should be available now to suppliers during the holiday season. 

The new tech had been in a closed beta test for much of 2024. 

Walmart Luminate Insights Activation is a self-service integration aimed at driving product, brand, and category sales. 

“It has matured to a stage where it gives a lot of useful information,” said Gauri. “So maybe [Walmart] will focus on giving more value to vendors.”

Gauri also sees Walmart investing more in automation at both distribution centers and at store locations.

Beyond tech, Lempert says he can see the box retailer investing in small store formats moving forward, much like Whole Foods, Amazon, and Sprouts Farmers Market have done recently.

“The one thing Walmart has always wanted to do is get in the convenience store business,” he said. “I think you will start to see Walmart [taking another look] at a small store format and it will be very tech driven.”

Walmart is currently in a quiet period before releasing its latest earnings report so could not comment on any tech advancements.