Walmart

Walmart's supply chain AI systems operated on a fundamental data quality problem: inputs were either stale historical records or probabilistic forecasts rather than ground-truth observations. Across 4,600-plus store locations and more than 40 distribution centers, associates routinely performed manual, time-consuming checks just to determine where merchandise was located. Inventory discrepancies — items recorded as present but missing from shelves — directly eroded the customer experience. At the scale of a retailer processing tens of millions of pallet movements, even small accuracy gaps compound into significant operational inefficiency and lost sales. The absence of continuous, real-time sensing meant supply chain decisions were always lagging actual conditions.

Walmart partnered with ambient IoT vendor Wiliot to deploy millions of battery-free sensors across its U.S. supply chain — what Wiliot describes as the first large-scale ambient IoT rollout in retail. Unlike traditional RFID, Wiliot's tags harvest energy from radio waves and other ambient sources, requiring no batteries, wanding, or active scanning by associates. The sensors continuously capture temperature, location, humidity, and dwell time signals from pallets moving through Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and distribution centers, feeding directly into Walmart's existing AI systems. This shifts the AI's inputs from probabilistic forecasts to continuous, real-time observations. Deployment began with approximately 500 locations in 2025 and will expand to all 4,600 stores and 40+ distribution centers by end of 2026. Integration targets three core operations: proof of delivery, replenishment decision-making, and cold chain compliance.

At full scale, the system will track an estimated 90 million pallets in real time across 4,600 Walmart locations and 40+ distribution centers by end of 2026. Operationally, associates no longer perform manual item-location checks — automated alerts surface discrepancies instantly, freeing staff for customer-facing work. Walmart projects gains across:

• Inventory accuracy: real-time sensed data eliminates the lag between physical movement and system records
• Cold chain compliance: continuous temperature and humidity monitoring flags deviations before product is compromised
• Shelf replenishment speed: pallet location signals identify stock that has arrived but not yet been shelved

Specific financial figures were not disclosed.

• Ambient IoT's passive, energy-harvesting design removes the operational overhead of traditional RFID — no scanning workflows, no battery cycles — enabling continuous data collection without changing associate behavior.
• AI decision quality is bounded by input data quality; replacing forecasted supply chain data with real-time sensed data is a structural improvement that compounds across every downstream model.
• Tag cost was the limiting factor that prevented Walmart's 2004 RFID mandate from delivering on its full promise — the current deployment signals that cost has crossed the viability threshold for mass retail use.
• Start with high-value, auditable use cases — proof of delivery and cold chain compliance — where outcomes are measurable and justify the integration investment before broader expansion.