Walmart's Making an Unpopular Change to Self-Checkout

While Walmart self-checkouts are quickly becoming the norm instead of cashiers, a new change is pushing customers over the edge.

CNBC reported on Aug. 1 that those shopping at Walmart “will soon see more third-party ads on screens in Walmart self-checkout lanes and TV aisles; hear spots over the store’s radio; and be able to sample items at demo stations.”

This plan to add more ads into Walmart stores is a part of what’s called “retail media,” according to CNBC. Retail media is a new term used “to describe marketing to shoppers based on customer data.” They report Target and Kroger have already jumped on this trend, which they call a “side hustle” for already popular chains.

Instead of mostly advertising Walmart deals and products on Walmart’s website, in-store TVs and their self-checkout kiosks, shoppers will now see an increase in advertisements from other products and businesses too.

Per CNBC, "The company plans to ramp up in-store ads using its approximately 170,000 digital screens across its locations as well as 30-second radio spots that will be available to suppliers later this year and can target a specific store or region."

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“It’s a complementary advertising moment,” Ryan Mayward told CNBC. He’s the senior vice president of retail media sales for Walmart Connect, which is the mega-grocery store’s advertising business. “It’s helping you make connections between two different products and decide that you maybe need that second thing.”

This isn’t necessarily new at Walmart; little ads have popped up in the corner of self-checkout stations before. But this new push will just add more advertisements in general and elsewhere in the store. However, as mentioned above, this push from Walmart will include demo stations with free samples on the weekends. These demos will potentially include meal ideas, seasonal products, home appliances and more.

As with anything, change isn’t always taken well or accepted at all. When places like Walgreens added screens to their freezer and refrigerator aisles, customers deemed it distracting and like Times Square. Back in March, one Twitter user wrote that it was “bad enough” that they’re pushing self-checkout and having fewer cashiers, “but now you're forcing us to watch @TMobile ads while doing it.” They wrote that it’s “just a little bit ridiculous at this point.”

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But others on the Walmart subreddit group defended these ads, saying that Walmart is within their right to make money how they want. "Ads pay to be there," one user wrote.

Another explained: "I don't see how this is any different than a cashier promoting things to you, or all the signs and sales around them while you checkout."

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Time will tell what comes of Walmart's ad push—but the upcoming demo stations with free samples just might make the shift a little more popular.

Next up, Walmart is bringing back a fan-favorite bakery item for fall.