Walmart’s bot brigade is about to hit the 2,000-mile mark

Walmart’s shelf-scanning robots have been on the move. In the four months since the company announced it was deploying shelf-scanning robots in 50 of its stores, the automated (and vaguely llama-looking) machines have traveled nearly 2,000 miles through store aisles.

Keeping busy: Vice president of innovation at Walmart John Crecelius says the robots have been scanning the food and consumables sections of the stores three times a day. They search for out of stock items, incorrect prices, and other things that need an associate’s attention. In total, the robots have scanned about 78 million items.

By the numbers: Back of the envelope math suggests that the robots scan about 13,000 per robot per day.

In the field: Walmart has deployed their bots in stores in a variety of geographies with varying traffic and characteristics. “In these first 50 stores our focus has largely been getting [the robot] to be a product that makes a meaningful difference,” says Crecelius. The company plans to continue to collect data before considering an expansion of the program.

The reaction: Martin Hitch, the chief business officer of the robots’ manufacturer, Bossa Nova, says customer reaction has been mixed. While some shoppers are intrigued by the robots, at least 50 percent completely ignore them.