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Walmart to employ robots to help restock shelves

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Walmart announced plans last week to employ robots in at least 50 US locations in the near future, which will assist the company's associates in keeping the shelves stocked. 

Walmart said the robots will be used to check for out-of-stock items, incorrect prices and wrong or missing labels. In the selected locations, robots will be seen navigating aisles, scanning the shelves. 

The robot is able to alert employees if an item is out of stock, or does not have the correct price tag. 

"This new shelf-scanning technology frees up time for our associates to focus on what they tell us are the most important and exciting parts of working at Walmart – serving customers and selling merchandise," Walmart said in a statement. 

Walmart said it has tested the scanning robots in a small number of stores in Arkansas, Pennsylvania and California, and the test was successful enough to expand.