Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, may not be on the same level of tech-savviness as, say, Amazon. But the company is reportedly working on some innovative tech to help launch itself into the future.
The company already has a series of patent applications aimed at increasing use of automation and technology at its stores. One of the more interesting ones is a patent for a facial recognition system that can detect customer dissatisfaction. When it does, the system will automatically adjust a store’s staffing accordingly, the Wall Street Journal reported. Yes, Wal-Mart is working on biometric tech that can tell if you’re happy or not.
The patent is just one part of a larger push by Wal-Mart to keep up with tech-oriented competitors like online retail behemoth Amazon — which just recently purchased Whole Foods. As an example, Wal-Mart announced in June that it was “six to nine months away” from using drones to check inventory at its warehouses, Reuters reported. The company is also considering using drones for home delivery and curbside pickup.
Another part of that effort is unfolding in the automation of retail jobs at Wal-Mart, with positions entailing routine tasks especially at risk of being taken over by robots. Self-checkout lanes can do away with cashiers, drones can handle delivery and inventory, and product suggestions given by flesh-and-blood employees could be replaced with machine learning algorithms. In fact, over two-thirds of retail jobs in the U.S. may be in danger of being lost to automation.
Wal-Mart has also made various online retail acquisitions recently — including Bonobos, Jet.com, Shoebuy and ModCloth. Indeed, it seems that Amazon and Wal-Mart are on a collision course — and the latter company seems to be doing all that it can to stave off the rapidly encroaching threat.
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