Walmart de México y Centroamérica is accelerating the digital transformation of its stores by implementing technology from Vusion. The company plans to fully equip its Walmart Express stores with the EdgeSense connected-store platform by the end of the year. Its larger Supercenter locations will follow.
Vusion’s EdgeSense platform combines electronic shelf labels (ESLs) with computer vision, artificial intelligence and real-time data analytics to create a unified foundation for optimising the in-store shopping experience. In the first phase, Walmart is set to install over than 1.7 million digital labels and more than 180,000 EdgeSense Smart Rails.
The intelligent shelf rails offer more than just the display of prices and product information: the Bluetooth-enabled labels open up new channels of communication with customers and staff based on the location of individual products. Furthermore, the solution no longer requires batteries in the individual labels but is powered by a single rechargeable battery per rail.
Testing in various store formats
The aim of the rollout at Walmart Mexico is to further automate store operations, improve stock accuracy and enable new data-driven applications in merchandising and customer service. At the same time, automated processes are intended to reduce the workload for employees.
In addition to rolling out the technology in its Express stores, Walmart Mexico is also preparing to introduce it in its Supercentres. The retailer is also planning a pilot project in its Bodega discount stores to test how the connected store technology can be applied to its other store formats.
Walmart is equipping all its stores in the US with Vusion
“The deployment of EdgeSense will help us further modernise our store operations and empower our associates to focus on serving customers,” says Paul Lewellen, Chief Operating Officer of Walmart de México y Centroamérica.
Vusion’s technology has been used in Walmart stores in the US for some time. There, the retailer uses EdgeSense and VusionCloud to increase staff productivity, improve stock accuracy and enable faster fulfilment of online orders. At the end of 2024, Vusion announced that Walmart intends to equip all 4,600 of its US stores with the technology. According to a recent report from the retail giant, this roll-out is set to be completed as early as next year.
First EdgeSense rollout in Latin America
In 2021, Walmart Canada announced that it would be rolling out VusionCloud and Vusion’s electronic shelf labels. The technology was installed at 328 locations under the initial contract.
The launch in Mexico marks the first large-scale deployment of the EdgeSense platform in Latin America. In Europe, Carrefour and dm Drogeriemarkt are among the major retailers relying on Vusion’s EdgeSense technology. dm was the second retailer after Walmart to adopt Vusion’s this innovative shelf-labelling technology. The Retail Optimiser reported.
Vusion rollout also at Carrefour
Earlier this year, Carrefour announced the rollout of Vusion’s ShelfEdge platform across all of its hypermarkets and supermarkets in France. The decision was made following an eight-month trial of the technology. The Retail Optimiser reported on a key pilot installation at a Carrefour hypermarket in Villabé, south of Paris.
