Walmart Is Making These Major Changes in 2023
You will see significant upgrades in-store and online this year.
The new year is here—and we'll all hoping to stick to the resolutions that we've set. Walmart has its own set of resolutions for 2023, many of which will impact the way that you shop in stores and online. The big-name retailer is updating its inventory, online shopping practices, and its in-store experience, so you'll want to be aware of what's heading your way in the coming months. Read on to find out all about Walmart's upcoming changes, along with the changes it's already made.
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Walmart is expanding its beauty department.
Walmart is already known as a retailer that has pretty much everything on your list. But in 2023, you can expect to see even more on shelves and online, as Walmart is launching a new product line from Olive & June, an at-home nail company. According to a Jan. 5 press release, roughly 50 product varieties are now available in over 2,500 Walmart stores nationwide, as well as online on Walmart.com.
"Since the very beginning of Olive & June, I have always wanted to make beautiful nails possible for everyone," Sarah Gibson Tuttle, founder and CEO of Olive & June, said in the release. "Bringing our line of premium performance nail products to Walmart, brings us one step closer to making this dream come true. We couldn't be more excited for this new collaboration and to connect with the Walmart community."
Thanks to its Jan. 5 launch, Olive & June is now the first and only brand sold at Walmart to "offer solutions across all nail categories," including press-on nails, nail tools, treatments, and polish. To find out if Olive & June products are available at a Walmart near you, visit the brand's store locator page.
There will be fewer single-use bags.
The elimination of single-use bags at Walmart has been several years in the making. The initiative dates back to 2020, when Walmart first announced its environmental initiative to "reinvent the plastic bag." Single-use bags were then booted from Vermont in Feb. 2021, and banned in Maine not long after. Ten states in total have axed single-use plastic bags, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, New York, Oregon, and New Jersey. Colorado officially joins this lineup on Jan. 1, 2024.
But Walmart formally banned these bags in Colorado as of New Year's Day—12 months ahead of schedule. "Beginning Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, Walmart stores in Colorado will no longer provide single-use plastic or paper bags at checkout or pickup. Delivery will shift to paper bags," Lauren Willis, global communications director for Walmart in the Western U.S., previously said in a statement to Best Life.
As of Jan. 18, 111 Walmart stores in New York will also say goodbye to single-use paper bags (plastic was already banned by the state in March 2020). However, in both Colorado and New York, you can still purchase Walmart's reusable bags in-store.
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We may see additional "stores of the future."
In Nov. 2022, Walmart remodeled the Walmart Supercenter in Beavercreek, Ohio, calling it a "store of the future," the Dayton Daily News reported. The store now has digital displays, bathroom and bedroom displays, and more national brands. Customers can also scan quick response (QR) codes, which will take them directly to an item's product page on Walmart.com.
The interactive store model was first introduced in 2021 near Walmart headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, and in Jan. 2022, the company confirmed that 1,000 stores had been renovated with this new design. In July 2022, Walmart also announced that it was investing $150 million to model 28 Wisconsin stores, the Post-Crescent reported.
Walmart hasn't announced formal plans for additional updates, but we can likely anticipate more "stores of the future" sooner rather than later.
"We'll continue to test, learn, and make changes based on what our customers tell us. As we do that, we'll quickly adjust and deliver an even better, more engaging experience in 2022 and beyond," Alvis Washington, Walmart's Vice President of Marketing Store Design and Innovation and Experience, said in the Jan. 2022 press release. "After all, when customers choose to shop in-store with us, we want them to feel wowed and inspired—and that their time was well spent."
Walmart made changes in late 2022 as well.
These aren't the only Walmart changes in the mix—you might've missed a few that were made late last year.
Certain Walmart products are now locked in cases that can only be opened by an employee with a smartphone, Forbes reported. The move was made in response to an industry-wide uptick in retail theft, which CEO Doug McMillon previously said may force the retailer to close stores and increase prices. Walmart didn't confirm if and when this would be rolled out to Walmart stores nationwide, but a spokesperson said that the company "takes the protection of our assets seriously."
On a more positive note, the company also introduced a new "Text to Shop" feature for Android and Apple users, a Dec. 14 press release confirmed. As its name suggests, you can now text the items that you need to have them added to your cart via your linked Walmart account. You can change or swap items, check out, and schedule delivery by texting or through the Walmart app directly, per the press release.
