If you’ve been going to the same grocery store for years, you know where to go for the bread, milk and toilet paper.
But try going to a different store location, and you’ll quickly realize it’s not as easy to find what you need.
As a part of a new initiative, Walmart hopes to put that frustration in the past.
The retailer announced Wednesday it will redesign nearly 200 Supercenters, health centers and Neighborhood Markets across the country by the end of January 2021. It plans to have 1,000 store locations renovated by the beginning of 2022.
Walmart’s plan is to optimize the shopping experience by making it easier for consumers to find what they need. The company is also pushing shoppers to utilize its app to simplify the in-store experience.
“We’ve updated the Walmart signage on the exterior and interior of stores to reflect the Walmart app icon, creating an instant omni-shopping experience in the customer’s mind,” Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s executive vice president and chief customer officer, wrote in a press release. “As customers enter the store, they are greeted with clean, colorful iconography and a store directory that encourages them to download and use the Walmart app while they shop.”
Whiteside said Walmart designers were inspired by the way airports provide easy-to-understand signage and navigation for large groups of people seeking information.
Large signs will indicate which items are sold in well-organized areas throughout stores.
“Throughout the store, bold, dimensional typeface directs customers to the exact section they are looking for, while aisles are marked with letter and number combinations to guide customers from phone to product,” Whiteside stated. “We also optimized product layout, bringing greater visibility to key items throughout the store, including dedicated in-store sections for electronics, toys, baby products and more.”
Updated stores will also have self-checkout kiosks installed and contactless payment solutions, including Walmart Pay, to limit contact between associates and customers.
In an interview with USA TODAY, Whiteside said Walmart had plans to redesign stores before the coronavirus pandemic and said that the aim is to get the customer “what you want as quickly as possible, so you’re not endlessly walking up and down aisles looking for items.”
“We’re always listening to our customers and innovating our in-store, online and mobile experiences to meet and exceed their expectations," Whiteside wrote in a blog post. “We want their time with us to be enjoyable, and we’re working hard to create ways for them easily toggle between shopping channels – or use them together.”
Cox Media Group
