Walmart plans to put employees who can take payments in busy store departments from November 1, allowing holiday shoppers to bypass regular checkout lines. Its October 30, 2018 announcement names garden centers and electronics among the locations for Check Out With Me. Employees would accept credit-card payments and issue paper or electronic receipts where customers are shopping. [S1]

In April, Walmart described a Check Out With Me test in the Lawn & Garden Centers of more than 350 stores across the country. Employees had cellular devices and Bluetooth printers, letting customers pay for mulch, soil or flowers without going inside the store. October’s plan takes that approach beyond the garden center. [S1][S2]

This is employee-operated checkout, not a request for shoppers to scan their own purchases. The April description has the employee scan the items on a mobile device, swipe the credit card and supply the receipt. The October announcement keeps the employee in the payment process. For the shopper, the potential benefit is avoiding the regular line; for the store, completing the sale still takes a worker and payment equipment. [S1][S2]

Walmart is also changing how customers find goods before they pay. Its October announcement says store maps in the Walmart app have reached most stores, with availability at all stores planned for early November. A shopper can search for an item and see its location on the relevant store’s map, while new signs help them orient themselves. The map handles finding the item; Check Out With Me changes where an employee can complete the sale. [S1]

Neither announcement reports measured reductions in checkout waits or sets out staffing levels for the service. For a store manager, the unanswered question is whether employees will be dedicated to checkout or also covering other customer requests. Walmart describes where it intends to place them, but not how other duties would be covered. [S1][S2]

Source documents

  1. Walmart Brightens Customer Experience and Expands Assortment to Help Customers Light Up Christmashttps://corporate.walmart.com/news/2018/10/30/walmart-brightens-customer-experience-and-expands-assortment-to-help-customers-light-up-christmas
  2. Walmart Launches Check Out With Me, a New Service Designed to Save Customers Timehttps://corporate.walmart.com/news/2018/04/19/walmart-launches-check-out-with-me-a-new-service-designed-to-save-customers-time