(Photo: Walmart)

Welcome to the new and improved Walmart

Walmart is among one of the retailers considering the way their stores operate during a time of social distancing in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and has revealed its new store format. The new version of Walmart will feature contactless payment options and more self-checkout kiosks.

The reimagined Walmart will be incorporated into 200 Supercenters by 2021 and have up to 1,000 locations by the next fiscal year. Walmart’s new design was inspired by the idea of creating a “seamless” shopping experience.

The Chief Customer Officer of Walmart, Janey Whiteside, explained that Walmart is constantly working towards improving the shopper experience to “meet and exceed their expectations.” Walmart was inspired by airport wayfinding systems that are used to navigate large groups of people in an efficient process.

Walmart is revamping the layout and signage of its stores to speed up shopping and better cater to smartphone-armed customers. The new look will be rolled out to 1,000 stores by early 2022. https://t.co/Es0sa7USOU

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 1, 2020

Walmart has already implemented some of the new measures in redesigned stores for testing in select stores to gain valuable employee and customer feedback before implementing the new system. The new store system will be more efficient for more shoppers to discourage browsing and have customers be able to better navigate the space in less time.

Walmart will also be changing their signing to make it more clear for customers on where they should go to find what they need and cut browsing time. The new store signs will incorporate the categories as they’re found on the Walmart shopping app.