Walmart’s Big Move: Ambient IoT Sensors Replace Legacy RFID in Supply Chain
Walmart is making a bold leap in supply chain technology, moving beyond traditional RFID toward a new era of ambient Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that operate without batteries. In a recent collaboration with tech provider Wiliot, Walmart is deploying “IoT Pixels”, tiny, self-powered sensors, across its pallet fleet, aiming to monitor location, temperature, humidity, and dwell time in real time.
What’s happening and why it matters
The initiative is already live in about 500 Walmart locations, with plans to expand across all 4,600 U.S. stores and over 40 distribution centers by the end of 2026. Ultimately, the goal is to outfit up to 90 million pallets with ambient sensors.
Unlike battery-powered tags or conventional RFID, these ambient sensors harvest energy from their surroundings, such as radio waves, light, heat, or motion, to remain operational indefinitely. That removes maintenance overhead and enables massively scalable deployments.
Walmart describes this as one of the first large-scale ambient IoT deployments in retail. The real-time data these sensors deliver will feed directly into Walmart’s AI systems, enabling smarter inventory decisions, fewer manual tasks, and reduced discrepancies between what’s in the system and what’s on shelves.
Challenges & implications
This shift is not without hurdles. Integrating massive sensor data streams into existing systems, ensuring interoperability across vendors, and proving ROI at scale will be key tests. However, if successful, this could redefine the standard for inventory accuracy in retail.
Analysts note that inventory distortion (i.e. mismatch between system records and actual stock) still costs retailers heavily. Walmart’s deployment could pressure competitors to adopt similar ambient IoT strategies or fall behind.
Moreover, the technology may help Walmart maintain cost leadership: automating monotonous tracking tasks without significantly increasing headcount, while improving precision and speed.
📎 Press / Official Link
You can read the official press release of the collaboration here (on PR Newswire): “Wiliot Collaborates with Walmart to Transform Retail Supply Chain with Ambient IoT and AI”