Walmart has overhauled its supply chain operations with the rollout of ambient IoT in what the company describes as the first large scale deployment of the technology in the retail sector.

IoT pixels are used to track Walmart pallets at scale, with a goal of reaching 90 million by the end of next year.

An intelligence platform processes signals from battery-free Bluetooth sensors located in the cloud using purpose-built AI and ML models.

The US retailer said the technology is designed to enhance supply chain efficiency, inventory accuracy, and cold chain compliance for temperature sensitive products.

By using the technology, the company says it will gain real-time insights into inventory management, knowing exactly what merchandise is owned and where it is at any moment.

Walmart said the technology is currently deployed across 500 locations, with plans for national expansion in 2026.

The rollout will cover 4,600 Walmart Supercentres, Neighbourhood Markets, and over 40 distribution centres, generating high-resolution supply chain data that feeds into Walmart's AI systems.

Ambient IoT technology is an ecosystem made up of a large number of objects, with every item connected to a wireless sensor network using low-cost self-powered sensor nodes.

The sensor nodes, which are connected with others in the network, are capable of gathering, communicating or processing information.

Walmart has installed the technology in collaboration with technology firm Wiliot.

"At Walmart, technology is in service of people – both our customers and our associates," said Greg Cathey, Walmart senior vice president of transformation & innovation. "With Wiliot's ambient IoT technology, coupled with our AI systems, we're not only optimising our supply chain to make faster, smarter inventory decisions, but we're also tackling one of the hardest problems in retail—knowing exactly what we own and where it is at any given moment.

“This enhanced visibility helps us deliver the consistent value, quality, and experience our customers expect – and that's what drives us every day."

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