Walmart Will Now Let Shoppers Do This at Checkout, Starting Friday

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With six decades under its belt, Walmart has learned what shoppers want, and it hasn’t been afraid to adjust its operations over the years. As a result, customers have experienced plenty of change. In 2022 alone, Walmart shoppers in different parts of the U.S. have seen major store redesigns , new augmented reality features on its app, and even the launch of a book club . Now, the company has announced another upgrade for the holidays. Read on to find out what Walmart will let shoppers do at checkout, starting Friday.

READ THIS NEXT: Walmart Is Banning Shoppers From Doing This in 4 States, as of Next Year .

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Globally, Walmart sees an average of 230 million shoppers enter its stores every week, according to Statista. And although inflation has rocked everyone this year, customers are still planning to flock to this big-box retailer in the coming weeks. A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 25 percent of people in the U.S. said they prefer to do their holiday shopping at Walmart, while only 9 percent picked Target as their preferred holiday retailer in comparison.

The mega-retailer also just reported stronger-than-expected financial results during its fall quarter. Walmart’s comparable sales in the U.S. increased by 8.2 percent through Oct. 28 from the year prior, and shopper visits to its stores climbed by 2.1 percent in the third quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC on Nov. 15 that while the retailer will continue to watch sales closely through the holidays, they are already “off to a pretty solid start.”

If you’re heading to Walmart to do some Christmas shopping, be prepared for something new at checkout.

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As the holidays roll in, Walmart has announced an important rollout for shoppers.

In a Nov. 21 press release , the retailer revealed that it is launching a new giving campaign as part of its Spark Good initiative. Walmart initially unveiled Spark Good in Sept. 2022. It’s described as a “digital giving platform that makes it easier for associates and customers to support causes they care about, and for nonprofits to access Walmart’s customers, associates, and business and philanthropic resources.”

According to the press release, Walmart will allow customers to give to nonprofits at checkouts starting Nov. 25. From this day until Christmas, “the retailer is giving customers the opportunity to round up purchases, then donate the change” when shopping online or in stores, Walmart explained.

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Walmart is giving you even more control this time around. During the retailer’s holiday giving campaign, you can donate to a “favorite charity” by choosing where your money is sent.

“Participating is easy,” Walmart said. “After a customer checks out while shopping online or in the app, they will be prompted to search for a favorite charity for their round up donations.”

You can go to Walmart’s Spark Good website to search through nonprofits for the Round Up campaign as well. But if the charity you want to donate to isn’t listed, don’t worry: “If a customer can’t find the local cause they want to support, they can send a referral link directly to the 501(c)(3) of their choice,” Walmart said in its announcement.

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Of course, it’s not only your money going to these nonprofits. Walmart said that it will “match customers contributions 1:1, up to $1 million.” So combined with what customers give, the retailer’s program could send various charities $2 million in total through donations alone.

And Walmart isn’t stopping there. The company is also awarding charities that reach a certain threshold of contributions through its program in order to “incentivize customers and nonprofits to take part in the campaign.” Walmart will give up to 3,000 nonprofits each a $1,000 grant if they receive 20 or more Spark Good Round Up donations from shoppers.

“Last year, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $1.5 billion in cash and in-kind donations to organizations around the world,” Erin Hogue , a senior director of associate and customer engagement at Walmart, said in a statement. “Giving is in our DNA and it’s clear our customers feel the same. With this $5 million campaign, we’re not only amplifying our customers’ acts of giving through matching donations and grants, we’re also allowing our customers to tell us where they’d like the dollars to go.”

Walmart Is Banning Shoppers From Doing This in 4 States, as of Next Year

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The shopping experience at Walmart is nothing if not consistent. The megaretailer has changed with the times to keep giving customers what they want, from a convenient shopping experience to maintaining their low prices despite soaring inflation. Typically, this involves adding features or perks that endear fans to the store even more. But even as the world’s second-largest retailer, some changes are inevitable for the company—including ones that could affect the shopping experience. Read on to see what Walmart is banning shoppers from doing in four states as of next year.

READ THIS NEXT: Walmart Shoppers Can Now Buy This “Award-Winning” Product in Stores .

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There’s no question that the pace of change in the retail industry has quickened in recent years. But unlike some other once-iconic stores that have all but disappeared , Walmart has managed to keep customers coming back by embracing new technology and fine-tuning its customer experience.

In July, the store unveiled a new augmented reality (AR) feature built into its app that allows customers to see how a piece of furniture or décor will look in their home before they decide to buy it. The company also announced it had updated its website to optimize the experience for Spanish speakers shopping on its website. And the retailer also kicked off a partnership with streaming platform Roku that allows customers to shop for items using their TVs.

Devoted Walmart customers have also likely found more reasons to return to the store lately. Earlier this summer, the retailer announced that it was updating its Walmart+ subscription service, allowing members to bundle their package with InHome Delivery for an extra $40 annually. The service provides customers with the convenience of having the items they ordered brought straight to their doorstep, garage, or fridge. But despite these recent additions, there’s one thing Walmart shoppers in some areas won’t see in stores for much longer.

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Originally, signage had announced that the changes would take effect beginning Sept. 15. However, those notices have since been removed from the store, with representatives telling KRDO that the new policy will go into effect at a later date in the coming months.

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News of the major change comes after the state government passed Colorado House Bill 1162 last year, KRDO reports. Even though the new legislation will ban stores and restaurants from giving out single-use plastics such as shopping bags beginning in 2024, the company said it would be getting a head start on the changes—and has even instituted similar policies in other states.

“Walmart has been exploring alternatives to single-use carryout bags from our stores since 2021 while prioritizing our customers’ convenience and product safety, including through the Beyond the Bag Consortium. In the U.S., we have transitioned from plastic bags in Vermont, Maine, and New Jersey, and, starting early 2023, we expect to eliminate single-use carryout bags in Colorado as well—with reusable bags available for purchase at multiple prices,” a corporate spokesperson for Walmart told KRDO in a statement.

“For in-store and curbside delivery, we will continue to encourage our customers to bring their own bags and/or purchase reusable bags and will be switching to reusable paper bags for delivery. Walmart remains committed to identifying solutions that are scalable, convenient, and sustainable,” the representative explained.

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Despite how convenient they may seem, plastic bags have become a major ecological issue , with less than 10 percent of those put into use ending up recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a result, state and municipal governments around the U.S. have begun to institute their own local ordinances similar to Colorado’s that limit or outright ban retailers and other businesses from furnishing plastic bags. As of February 2021, eight states had enacted bans on single-use plastic bags , including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, per the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Other areas, such as Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., have also required businesses to charge a five or 10-cent fee per bag used by a customer.

But it’s not just plastic bags: Walmart’s latest decision aligns with the company’s commitment to becoming a zero waste operation in the U.S. in Canada by 2025. After announcing the initiative last year, the retailer says it aims to switch to “100 percent recyclable, reusable, or industrially compostable packaging” for its own brands by 2025 while also “aiming to label 100 percent of that packaging with recycling instructions to educate our customers and eliminate non-recyclable packaging by the same time frame.”