Walmart introduces new retail concept to drive sales and address health and safety risks
Walmart, yesterday, unveiled its new look and feel to focus on a digital shopping experience. The new layout has been developed with new customer behaviors in mind. It incorporates a sleek design aesthetic, a layout that spotlights products, and an end-to-end digital navigation that guides customers throughout their journeys.
The new design elements include:
- Omni-shopping spark and optimized entrance:Walmart features a new updated 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. 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.
Throughout the store, a bold, dimensional typeface (e.g., SEAFOOD, BEEF, and DAIRY) 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.
- Airport inspiration and product spotlight:The design language borrows heavily from the airport wayfinding systems and features simple yet thoughtful designs to replicate the navigation efficiencies, which will help Walmart move customers through the store more quickly.
The retailer has 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.
- Contactless checkout and payment:All Walmart stores will now include self-checkout kiosks as well as contactless payment solutions, including Walmart Pay, to limit contact between associates and customers. Select locations will also have Scan & Go to help customers manage their checkout directly.
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Walmart has tested the new concept in select stores and says it has received positive initial feedback from customers and associates. It will be rolling it out to more stores this fall and will continue to get customer and associate feedback and evolve the design accordingly. By the end of this fiscal year, Walmart expects to deliver its new retail experience across nearly 200 Supercenters as well as in select Health Centers and Neighborhood Markets, reaching close to 1,000 stores by next fiscal year.
What Is Next for Brick-and-Mortar Retail?
Coresight Research Opens a new window had indicated that by April 2019, U.S. merchants had already announced the closure of nearly 6,000 physical retail locations for the year. To put that into context, that is more than in the entirety of 2018.
Considering the longer-term outlook, things do not get any rosier. ForbesOpens a new window  quotes a study from Investment firm UBS, estimating 75,000 brick-and-mortar store closures by 2026. This has led to talk of a ‘retail apocalypse’.
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Despite all the doom and gloom, 88.6%Opens a new window  of retail sales were still made in brick-and-mortar stores as of the last quarter in 2019.
This goes some way to explaining why COVID-19 has caused such unprecedented disruption. Had we already moved to a predominantly digital model, people could simply have continued shopping as normal. Instead, 92%Opens a new window  of shoppers say their shopping habits have been impacted.
Make no mistake, though, the move away from in-store and towards online is happening. COVID-19 may not have started the process, but it did give it a giant helping hand.
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Walmart’s Omni-shopping retail bet is similar to what a lot of other retailers have in the works. However, what is important is how seamlessly retail brands will be able to marry in-store experience with their digital touchpoints. This is where Walmart has an edge. Having made strategic investments in digital since the early 2000s, Walmart has the ability to deliver compelling Omni-shopping experiences across its stores. We would love to see how the retail giant scales this model going forward and what its competitors have in the works.