Walmart wasn’t about to let Amazon have all the fun when it comes to futuristic, tech-heavy retail prototypes. The retail giant recently unveiled a transformed Walmart Neighborhood Market in Levittown, N.Y., that is now equipped with artificial intelligence-enabled cameras, interactive displays, and a data center.
Dubbed the Intelligent Retail Lab (IRL), the 50,000-sf store will use an array of sensors, cameras, and processors to gather information about things like product inventory and availability. This real-time information will help employees know to restock products when they are needed most.
“Customers can be confident about products being there, about the freshness of produce and meant,” said Mike Hanrahan, IRL CEO, in a release. “Those are the types of things that AI can really help with.
See Also: Porsche’s next-gen showroom prototype opens in Palm Springs, Ca.
This means the store can automatically detect a product on the shelf, recognize a specific product (such as differentiating between one pound of ground beef and two pounds), and compare the quantities on the shelf to the upcoming sales demand. If the product is running low, they can restock it before customers arrive without having to comb through the entire store manually.
Upon entering IRL, customers can expect to see a typical Walmart store, with some futuristic highlights. The eye-catching, glass-encased data center with its soothing blue glow, for example, isn’t something you will find at every Walmart — yet. There will also be information stations for customers that will explain how AI is being used in the store and the benefits it has. Interactive educational displays and a Welcome Center will also be available for customers to dive deeper into the stores technology and get any questions they may have answered.
The technology will also help employees spend more time helping customers by performing mundane tasks such as evaluating if shopping carts need to be corralled or not. “We think it’s something our associates will be excited about. The technology has been built to improve associates’ jobs, to make their jobs more interesting, to help them alleviate some of the mundane tasks,” Hanrahan said. “AI can enhance their skill set in a very rapidly changing world.”
In its early days of operation, IRL will mainly be gathering data in order to determine how to best use the technology to improve the experience for customers and employees.
Related Stories
3D Printing | Oct 9, 2024
3D-printed construction milestones take shape in Tennessee and Texas
Two notable 3D-printed projects mark milestones in the new construction technique of “printing” structures with specialized concrete. In Athens, Tennessee, Walmart hired Alquist 3D to build a 20-foot-high store expansion, one of the largest freestanding 3D-printed commercial concrete structures in the U.S. In Marfa, Texas, the world’s first 3D-printed hotel is under construction at an existing hotel and campground site.
Mixed-Use | Oct 7, 2024
New mixed-use tower by Studio Gang completes first phase of San Francisco waterfront redevelopment
Construction was recently completed on Verde, a new mixed-use tower along the San Francisco waterfront, marking the end of the first phase of the Mission Rock development. Verde is the fourth and final building of phase one of the 28-acre project that will be constructed in several phases guided by design principles developed by a design cohort led by Studio Gang.
The Changing Built Environment | Sep 23, 2024
Half-century real estate data shows top cities for multifamily housing, self-storage, and more
Research platform StorageCafe has conducted an analysis of U.S. real estate activity from 1980 to 2023, focusing on six major sectors: single-family, multifamily, industrial, office, retail, and self-storage.
Mixed-Use | Sep 19, 2024
A Toronto development will transform a 32-acre shopping center site into a mixed-use urban neighborhood
Toronto developers Mattamy Homes and QuadReal Property Group have launched The Clove, the first phase in the Cloverdale, a $6 billion multi-tower development. The project will transform Cloverdale Mall, a 32-acre shopping center in Toronto, into a mixed-use urban neighborhood.
3D Printing | Sep 17, 2024
Alquist 3D and Walmart complete one of the nation’s largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures
Walmart has completed one of the largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures in the US. Alquist 3D printed the almost 8,000-sf, 20-foot-high addition to a Walmart store in Athens, Tenn. The expansion, which will be used for online pickup and delivery, is the first time Walmart has applied 3D printing technology at this scale.
Retail Centers | Sep 17, 2024
Thinking outside the big box (store)
For over a decade now, the talk of the mall industry has been largely focused on what developers can do to fill the voids left by a steady number of big box store closures. But what do you do when big box tenants stay put?
Mass Timber | Sep 17, 2024
Marina del Rey mixed-use development is L.A.’s largest mass timber project
An office-retail project in Marina del Rey is Los Angeles’ largest mass timber project to date. Encompassing about 3 acres, the 42XX campus consists of three low-rise buildings that seamlessly connect with exterior walkways and stairways. The development provides 151,000 sf of office space and 1,500 sf of retail space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 21, 2024
Adaptive reuse of a Sears store becomes luxury mixed-use housing
6 Corners Lofts at 4714 W Irving Park Road, Chicago, Ill., opened in March of 2024 as a 394,000-sf adaptive reuse project born out of a former Sears store.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 30, 2024
Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park
UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
