United StatesRetail and e-commerce2016–2020Walmart
Bossa Nova shelf-scanning robots
Walmart ended its shelf-scanning robot contract after finding other ways to monitor inventory
Problem
Walmart wanted to identify empty shelves, incorrect prices and missing labels while freeing employees to serve customers. Its shelf-scanning robots used machine learning to gather inventory information.
Approach
Walmart introduced the scanners in 2016 and expanded their deployment through its partnership with Bossa Nova Robotics. By November 2020, the robots operated in about 500 stores. Retail Dive reported that employees picking online orders were walking the aisles more frequently and providing another way to identify inventory problems. Walmart ended the contract and said it would concentrate on other inventory processes and technologies.
Results
Takeaway
The growth of online order picking changed the work already happening in Walmart's aisles. That reduced the need for a separate robot to collect inventory information.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Retail and e-commerce
- Business function
- Production and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Computer visionRobotics and automation
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Press reporting
Sources
Source summaries
Walmart confirmed that its Bossa Nova contract had ended after deployment to about 500 stores. The report described alternative inventory methods, including employees picking online orders, and quoted Walmart's explanation that it was testing other approaches.
Walmart dated the introduction of its Auto-S shelf-scanning robot to 2016. It described machine learning that identified stock and labeling problems, with the aim of giving employees more time for customers.
Full details are in the original sources.