Walmart Shoppers Threaten to Boycott Over Self-Checkout Change
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Self-checkout machines are already a controversial feature across all retailers. Some consumers prefer the convenience they provide, while others have slammed many businesses for making self-checkout the only option to use in stores. But now, one mega-retailer is choosing to make a new upgrade to these machines that is making customers even more upset. Read on to find out why Walmart shoppers are threatening to boycott over a self-checkout change.
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Walmart’s newest upcoming change is centered around advertising, CNBC reported on Aug. 1. According to the news outlet, the retailer is planning to sell and push more third-party ads to shoppers in its stores.
“When you think about our store, our store footprint and the percentage of Americans that we reach through our stores, we can deliver Super Bowl-sized audiences every week,” Ryan Mayward , senior vice president of retail media sales for Walmart Connect, the retailer’s advertising business, told CNBC.
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Through these new advertising initiatives, Walmart shoppers will soon see more third-party ads on screens in the retailer’s TV aisles and hear more commercials over the store’s radio. But that’s not all.
You can also expect to experience these ads and commercials while you’re trying to scan and purchase your items at the self-checkout. Walmart is already pushing self-checkout ads to buyers on its Connect website , explaining that they will help “influence point-of-purchase and future decisions” for shoppers in its stores.
“Show up at checkout to keep the journey going,” Walmart Connect’s website states. “Our Closed-loop Measurement can even verify when self-checkout ads influence a later purchase on our digital properties or the next time they walk in.”
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“One more reason to never go there,” one user wrote in an X post on Aug. 4 in regards to the news. Another person added in a repost , “Agreed. Not a single penny—this solidifies it. I detest ads.”
Best Life has reached out to Walmart about the complaints, and we will update this story with its response.
To try and avoid this, Mayward told CNBC that Walmart has been adding advertising to its stores “in a very deliberate and cautious way.” When done right, the executive said that these third-party ads will be able to enhance the shopping experience for customers and lift sales.
“It’s a complimentary advertising moment,” he said. “It’s helping you make connections between two different products and decide that you maybe need that second thing.”
