Walmart Brings Blockchain to the Grocery Store
The world’s largest retailer; Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is testing the use of blockchain technology in grocery stores. The company aims to improve food safety by using blockchain to keep track of food.
The discount behemoth is using the diffused-ledger technology to track an unidentified brand of packaged produce in the United States, Bloomberg Technology reported. Another blockchain technology developed by IBM (NYSE: IBM) at Tsinghsua University in Beijing is being used to track a pork product in China.
Walmart hopes that some of the same attributes that keep bitcoin safe and secure will make it easier keep track of foods. The company wants to create a unique token for every food product it sells. Diffused ledger technology will let the retailer track every one of the token and reduce the cost of storing all that information.
The hope is to create a database that will enable Walmart’s managers to know exactly when food arrived in a store and where it is. That way they can pinpoint products that might be overaged or contaminated and remove them. One goal is to reduce the danger of food poisoning, another is to reduce inventory costs by making easier to replenish supplies stocks.
Walmart Becoming a leader in Blockchain
Walmart is becoming something of a leader in blockchain and encrypted technologies. It is testing Walmart Pay, a quick-read (QR) code based payment technology in 4,600 stores in the United States.
Like bitcoin Walmart Pay uses a token and encryption to keep transactions to secure but it does not use blockchain. Walmart Pay actually generates a different image for every transaction to keep it secure.
If Walmart can roll out the world’s first blockchain-based inventory system it would be able to greatly reduce costs. That would make the company more efficient and ease the integration of online retail and brick and mortar stores.
Another use for blockchain would be to make delivery faster. Making inventory easier to track would make it easier to offer same day delivery through solutions like Uber. Walmart is experimenting with same-day delivery services through Uber, Lyft and Deliv in the United States.
Obviously the ultimate goal for Walmart would be to create its own blockchain based cryptocurrency, or payment solution. That would enable the company to reduce accounting costs by eliminating cash transactions and cutting banking costs. It is also making efforts to integrate Walmart Pay and Chase Pay.
