Walmart stops using robots for shelf-scanning

Walmart is the biggest competitor of Amazon in terms of the online retail marketplace. The company has been trying to become the top dog in the industry, and its Flipkart subsidiary has recently created an impact in its Indian market. They are supposedly crossing amazon in sales during the festive season.

We all know that many e-commerce platforms, including Amazon and Walmart, are trying out retail robot technology to make their home deliveries more automated. But to the dismay of many, the technology seems to be far from being successful.

According to sources, Walmart is now ending its contract in which the company adopted shelf-scanning robots in more than 500 of its stores. The company states that humans are more capable of performing this task than the automation bots, which requires maintenance.

The retailers were using shelf scanning robots, which were supplies by Bossa Nova Robotics since 2017. The job of these mobile robots was to perform routine work in the company’s retail stores. The machines would use their vision technology to scan shelves and identify what products needed restocking.

There was no dispute between Walmart and Bossa robotics. As to why the retailer decided to end its partnership with the robot supplier is still unclear. But speculations are being made that the covid situation has its hand in its sudden scenario change. The company’s workers are more fit to perform the shelf scanning task and perform the job well without needing technical maintenance, as is the case with the robot’s.

 A spokesperson for Walmart stated, “We learned a lot about how technology can assist associates, make jobs easier and provide a better customer experience. We will continue testing new technologies and investing in our processes and apps to understand best and track our inventory and help move products to our shelves as quickly as we can.”

The officials at the Bossa robotics didn’t comment on Walmarts sudden stop to their deal. But the ending of the agreement could very well create more jobs and space for Walmart workers.

Source

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