I have started a position as Cashier at Walmart a few months ago. Say what you will, but this post is about the cool tech that I discovered Walmart uses, and I am here to report to you guys, as a tech community, as to what most people do NOT know about Walmart. There will be some non-tech things in here as well. Feel free to ask me any questions, or add to what you know. Keep in mind, this is all at my store, and your local Walmart may be ran differently. The coolest tech would have to be seeing how integrated everything really is.
- Every associate uses a system called My Guide in order to find out what we have to do for the day. The best part of this, no need to report to a boss, manager, etc. The computer handles all, and tells all. Each name badge no matter who you are, has a barcode on the back. We can scan this badge at any
-My Guide hub/computer
-Price checker
-Handheld Terminal
-Inventory Terminal that is also handheld
-Register
And from there, the system will tell you what to do, from cleaning up the aisles, walking the floor to assist customers, to "Go to Register 15 and operate it." Stockers have time limits on their guide items.
- The Cash Registers are made by IBM, they are the IBM SurePOS 700. All registers run a proprietary purpose made for Point of Sale OS, called IBM 4690. I believe the 4690 OS is a derivative of SUSE Linux. Most grocers, independent retailers, run on IBM 4690, including but not limited to, Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Safeway (Windows XP front end, but 4690 software runs on top of Windows XP, using something called IBM Terminal Services (not the same as MS Terminal Services)), and Michaels. Walmart is actually up to date on the Point of Sale software, as evident by the Toshiba logos during the boot up process (Toshiba bought out the IBM POS division not too long ago).
- Every Walmart, and Walmart owned store in the entire world, including ASDA in the UK, Walmart China, Canada, Mexico, Best Price in India etc all run on the same IBM 4690 system. Yes this means we can check inventory on whats selling at Best Price in India right now.
- On touchscreen registers, the software that runs is Java based.
- On registers where there is a screen facing you, the customer, it is a touchscreen, you can use it to scroll up and down on your receipt.
- Walmart actually takes EMV (Chip & PIN), and our terminals will actually prompt you to "Insert or Slide card Quickly"…sad that less than 1% of customers will actually know what this is, less, actually know we support it…unfortunately unless you're from Europe, most people including Cashiers do not even know what Chip & PIN is. If you're from Europe, or have a Chip & PIN enabled card, go ahead and try it, place it in the EMV slot on the bottom of the terminal, type in your PIN and it'll work and process just fine. To the cashier, it just shows up to them as a normal credit card, and they will hit the "Credit" key like they always have, and it goes through just fine. No signature required, as it was a Chip & PIN card. I actually had the luxury of processing one, as I checked out a customer who lives in the UK. They did not know that ASDA was owned by Walmart, despite having such a huge Walmart presence over there.
EDIT: Of course chip is normal now. It’s 2017! This post was a long time ago!
- Older stores do not have touchscreen registers, but newer, as well as recently remodeled stores have touchscreen registers, thankfully mine does, otherwise, I would need to remember Action Codes. More on Action Codes later.
-Our registers do a lot more than just check people out. From here, using specific "Action Codes" we can, do random things such as call someone over for a price check, tell someone we need to go to the bathroom, get a mess cleaned up, get help with an angry customer, get more change, etc.
Here is a list of Action Codes, whether or not the register is equipped with a touchscreen, you can use these, but with a touchscreen, thankfully all of the options are just displayed on the screen:
1 - Complete Transaciton Void
2 - Terminal Statistics Report
3 - Terminal Accounting Report
4 - Department Totals
6 - Price Inquiry
7 - Reset Transaction Number
9 - Training Mode
10 - Operator Performance
13 - Payroll Check Cashing
14 - Application Memory Usage
17 - Refresh Tax Tables
18 - Refresh Configuration
23 - Suspended Transaction Report
24 - CSM Override Approval
25 - Shopping Card Cash Back
55 - Reload Phone Cards
60 - Print Previous Journal Data
61 - Reprint Previous Receipt
69 - Cashier Online Training
70 - Utility Payments/Credit Card Payments
91 - TC # Lookup and Decryption
**********
** 8. Wal-Mart Cashier Codes: CSM Assistance Codes **
**********
202 - Cancel Previous Request
203 - Need Change
204 - Need Restroom Break
205 - Need Break / Lunch
206 - Need Receipt Tape
207 - Need Carry Out (Getting someone to help take your items to your car, yes we do still provide this service, little known fact).
208 - Need Cash Pickup
209 - Need Price Check
210 - Need Cleanup **Dry**
211 - Break $100 Bill
212 - Need Loan
213 - Need WIC Assistance
214 - Lines Are Long
215 - Need Cleanup **Wet**
216 - Customer Emergency
217 - Need Round of Change
218 - Need Check Approval
248 - Customer Assistance
-As a cashier we are rated based on our scans per hour. The highest one in our store generally gets cool stuff such as gift cards, movie tickets etc. From what I see, there is no punishment for getting a low scan per hour, you just don't get rewarded. You can check by pressing Action Code 10.
- Because our registers do so much, they got rid of our cashier phones, which I believe they should have never taken out, and kept the phones there. As from time to time, customers ask us to page someone. In this case, we press Action Code 248, and tell the CSM to page someone for us.
-If you don't take your required breaks or lunches, your register will lock you out. If you see our lane light off, and we are finishing up with a customer, the register already warned us that "Operator Lockout is Approaching", so if you come in the line anyway, and we can't serve you, this is most likely the reason.
-Cashiers have bosses, that are called CSMs, or Customer Service Managers, they are hourly employees who help to oversee all of the cashiers. You probably have seen or dealt with them at some time during a difficult transaction. These are the guys who comes to turn the key when anything goes wrong with the transaction. (not all the time do they have to turn the key, as they can do it remotely from their handheld…more on this later), and they can override just about anything. Sometimes they are running a register to also check people out, when an over ride is needed, they need to call ANOTHER CSM to do the override, as the system will not let your override your self, which is actually funny. If you are the only CSM working on that day, you better not run a register, because if you do, and you need an override, you are now stuck. You can't even log out, and in order to clock out, you need to be able to log out.
- The CSMs carry around Motorola MC55 handhelds to be able to receive those messages from the cashiers.
- The self checkouts are NCR SelfServ models, and run on Windows XP. They connect to the 4690 based system using IBM Terminal Services (as mentioned above on how 4690 can run on top of MS Windows). They definitely do run the 4690 system, the same as the cashiers are using in the background, and if someone ever comes to assist you for something such as an age restricted item, you'll see the background system in action. Pay attention next time when purchasing Alcohol at self checkout. Kind of cool to see.
-Walmart is truly a Multi-OS store, the Associate (Employee) management system, which manages the entire store, runs on SuSE Linux. The 4690 OS (mentioned above about the registers) I believe is now Linux based, running on IRES, or IBM Retail Environment for SUSE. The servers run on Windows Server 2008 and provides for thin client sessions (more on this on the next bullet point).
-Other than the registers, and the computers that are for sale, there are no "real computers" in the store, by that I mean, with a hard drive, a locally installed OS, etc. All "computers" in the store are WYSE thin clients, that connect to the aforementioned Windows Server 2008 server to provide us with a "Desktop environment." Everyone has access to these computers, but the system will not let you log in, unless you're clocked in for work. This means if you need to even do something like change or setup your direct deposit information, you have to clock in before you can do so. The same goes for the registers as well.
-Anyone can be "register trained", that includes the people greeters, and the maintenance associates. They will be called to help with the registers in the event there aren't enough cashiers.
-Despite all of the IBM installed equipment, NCR actually comes and does our maintenance (NCR is IBM's largest competitor in the point of sale market). NCR also maintains everything else tech related in the store, from the registers, to the thin clients, to the server, my guide hubs, to the time clock. I never knew that NCR did IT Consulting until I started my work at Walmart. NCR actually services more IBM equipment than IBM does, all due to the Walmart contract.
-The Price verifiers have touch screens. As customers the only thing you can do is scan an item, and it'll tell you how much it is. The touch screens don't do anything unless you're an associate. Scan your badge, and the touchscreen comes to life, and lets you do random things from a price checker, such as Check your work schedule, or checking what you have to do for the day. They are Motorola MK4000, running on Windows CE. As a customer, whatever price is displayed on here, is EXACTLY what you'll get at the register, for they come from the same server. No need to ask twice.
-Every store associate has a Walmart email address. Most associates don't even know this, but it is .s@walmart.com. Associates can check their email from the company intranet, using Outlook Web Access. Again, you can only check your email while you're in the store, and clocked in.
- The handheld terminals, are Motorola MC55s for the CSMs, and Motorola MC3100 for the stockers, and sales floor Associates. The associates refer to them as "Telxons", "Gemeni", or "PDA"….At our store, associates like to call them the "Gemeni", me having a tech background, just called it a Motorola, and the other associates caught on. These run on either Windows Mobile or Windows CE depending on the device. Newer ones are all Windows Mobile 6.
-The aforementioned handheld terminals, like our registers, also do a lot more than you know, including tell us if a spill is too hazardous to touch or not. If it is too hazardous, Haz-Mat is called to throw the contents of it away. You could also check your MyGuide from these terminals if you have one.
Other random myths debunked you may or may not know about Walmart (At least at my store).
- We all actually enjoy our jobs. Despite all of the myths, they actually treat us pretty well. Never has anyone been fired or reprimanded for talking about a union etc, like the media said. Honestly with the way things are ran, its pretty hard to get fired from a Walmart, unless you're truly doing something wrong, such as stealing, or beating a customer up. We know what our job is, and for many, this is their only job.
- Walmart does not help you get government assistance, like the media said. Unless they mean going to Google or something while you're on a store computer- but obviously this doesn't count, as there are no signs, or anything. It would be truly your own choice to apply for government assistance.
- We recently had a Christmas party, at the party, there were prizes given out in drawings, ranging from $100 gift cards to random place such as AMC Theaters, to Walmart gift cards.
- It doesn't matter who you are, EVERYONE, even the store manager will have to clean up a spill if they see one. It is actually fun to see our store manager actually doing manual labor.
- Even the store manager will check people out at a register if the front end gets too busy.
- We get Christmas off. We are closed on Christmas.
- Home Office controls everything, right down to our schedules, and even the temperature of the store (HVAC system). They can adjust the temperature for you when you call them and ask them to.
- On regular days, at stores that are NOT 24 hours, the store is only closed to customers. There is A LOT going on while the store is closed, mainly the stockers, overnighters, and inventory workers.
- Granted we are a nicer store than most other Walmarts, I've never seen anyone who looked like people on PeopleOfWalmart.com
- Ol' Roy dog food is named that because Sam Walton's dog was named Roy.
- We usually get a discount of some type at businesses that chose to open their doors inside of a Walmart, such as the in-store Subway (some have a McD's), the hair cut place, or some extra perks with your account at the in-store bank branch.
- Us Walmart associates say that Target is our sworn enemy. We do support our company and our store, so what we can buy from Walmart, we actually do. Recently with the news about Target's credit card data being hacked, a lot of associates actually said things such as "haha sucks to be Target" or "They suck anyway and deserve to have that happen, should have came to Walmart", or "At least we were prepared, Target should have done better"….Some associates I think definitely get a little TOOO INTO IT…..Honestly I think we are on top of it, since we support Chip & PIN but no other retailer in the US that I know of does
- Every associate uses a system called My Guide in order to find out what we have to do for the day. The best part of this, no need to report to a boss, manager, etc. The computer handles all, and tells all. Each name badge no matter who you are, has a barcode on the back. We can scan this badge at any
-My Guide hub/computer
-Price checker
-Handheld Terminal
-Inventory Terminal that is also handheld
-Register
And from there, the system will tell you what to do, from cleaning up the aisles, walking the floor to assist customers, to "Go to Register 15 and operate it." Stockers have time limits on their guide items.
- The Cash Registers are made by IBM, they are the IBM SurePOS 700. All registers run a proprietary purpose made for Point of Sale OS, called IBM 4690. I believe the 4690 OS is a derivative of SUSE Linux. Most grocers, independent retailers, run on IBM 4690, including but not limited to, Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Safeway (Windows XP front end, but 4690 software runs on top of Windows XP, using something called IBM Terminal Services (not the same as MS Terminal Services)), and Michaels. Walmart is actually up to date on the Point of Sale software, as evident by the Toshiba logos during the boot up process (Toshiba bought out the IBM POS division not too long ago).
- Every Walmart, and Walmart owned store in the entire world, including ASDA in the UK, Walmart China, Canada, Mexico, Best Price in India etc all run on the same IBM 4690 system. Yes this means we can check inventory on whats selling at Best Price in India right now.
- On touchscreen registers, the software that runs is Java based.
- On registers where there is a screen facing you, the customer, it is a touchscreen, you can use it to scroll up and down on your receipt.
- Walmart actually takes EMV (Chip & PIN), and our terminals will actually prompt you to "Insert or Slide card Quickly"…sad that less than 1% of customers will actually know what this is, less, actually know we support it…unfortunately unless you're from Europe, most people including Cashiers do not even know what Chip & PIN is. If you're from Europe, or have a Chip & PIN enabled card, go ahead and try it, place it in the EMV slot on the bottom of the terminal, type in your PIN and it'll work and process just fine. To the cashier, it just shows up to them as a normal credit card, and they will hit the "Credit" key like they always have, and it goes through just fine. No signature required, as it was a Chip & PIN card. I actually had the luxury of processing one, as I checked out a customer who lives in the UK. They did not know that ASDA was owned by Walmart, despite having such a huge Walmart presence over there.
EDIT: Of course chip is normal now. It’s 2017! This post was a long time ago!
- Older stores do not have touchscreen registers, but newer, as well as recently remodeled stores have touchscreen registers, thankfully mine does, otherwise, I would need to remember Action Codes. More on Action Codes later.
-Our registers do a lot more than just check people out. From here, using specific "Action Codes" we can, do random things such as call someone over for a price check, tell someone we need to go to the bathroom, get a mess cleaned up, get help with an angry customer, get more change, etc.
Here is a list of Action Codes, whether or not the register is equipped with a touchscreen, you can use these, but with a touchscreen, thankfully all of the options are just displayed on the screen:
1 - Complete Transaciton Void
2 - Terminal Statistics Report
3 - Terminal Accounting Report
4 - Department Totals
6 - Price Inquiry
7 - Reset Transaction Number
9 - Training Mode
10 - Operator Performance
13 - Payroll Check Cashing
14 - Application Memory Usage
17 - Refresh Tax Tables
18 - Refresh Configuration
23 - Suspended Transaction Report
24 - CSM Override Approval
25 - Shopping Card Cash Back
55 - Reload Phone Cards
60 - Print Previous Journal Data
61 - Reprint Previous Receipt
69 - Cashier Online Training
70 - Utility Payments/Credit Card Payments
91 - TC # Lookup and Decryption
**********
** 8. Wal-Mart Cashier Codes: CSM Assistance Codes **
**********
202 - Cancel Previous Request
203 - Need Change
204 - Need Restroom Break
205 - Need Break / Lunch
206 - Need Receipt Tape
207 - Need Carry Out (Getting someone to help take your items to your car, yes we do still provide this service, little known fact).
208 - Need Cash Pickup
209 - Need Price Check
210 - Need Cleanup **Dry**
211 - Break $100 Bill
212 - Need Loan
213 - Need WIC Assistance
214 - Lines Are Long
215 - Need Cleanup **Wet**
216 - Customer Emergency
217 - Need Round of Change
218 - Need Check Approval
248 - Customer Assistance
-As a cashier we are rated based on our scans per hour. The highest one in our store generally gets cool stuff such as gift cards, movie tickets etc. From what I see, there is no punishment for getting a low scan per hour, you just don't get rewarded. You can check by pressing Action Code 10.
- Because our registers do so much, they got rid of our cashier phones, which I believe they should have never taken out, and kept the phones there. As from time to time, customers ask us to page someone. In this case, we press Action Code 248, and tell the CSM to page someone for us.
-If you don't take your required breaks or lunches, your register will lock you out. If you see our lane light off, and we are finishing up with a customer, the register already warned us that "Operator Lockout is Approaching", so if you come in the line anyway, and we can't serve you, this is most likely the reason.
-Cashiers have bosses, that are called CSMs, or Customer Service Managers, they are hourly employees who help to oversee all of the cashiers. You probably have seen or dealt with them at some time during a difficult transaction. These are the guys who comes to turn the key when anything goes wrong with the transaction. (not all the time do they have to turn the key, as they can do it remotely from their handheld…more on this later), and they can override just about anything. Sometimes they are running a register to also check people out, when an over ride is needed, they need to call ANOTHER CSM to do the override, as the system will not let your override your self, which is actually funny. If you are the only CSM working on that day, you better not run a register, because if you do, and you need an override, you are now stuck. You can't even log out, and in order to clock out, you need to be able to log out.
- The CSMs carry around Motorola MC55 handhelds to be able to receive those messages from the cashiers.
- The self checkouts are NCR SelfServ models, and run on Windows XP. They connect to the 4690 based system using IBM Terminal Services (as mentioned above on how 4690 can run on top of MS Windows). They definitely do run the 4690 system, the same as the cashiers are using in the background, and if someone ever comes to assist you for something such as an age restricted item, you'll see the background system in action. Pay attention next time when purchasing Alcohol at self checkout. Kind of cool to see.
-Walmart is truly a Multi-OS store, the Associate (Employee) management system, which manages the entire store, runs on SuSE Linux. The 4690 OS (mentioned above about the registers) I believe is now Linux based, running on IRES, or IBM Retail Environment for SUSE. The servers run on Windows Server 2008 and provides for thin client sessions (more on this on the next bullet point).
-Other than the registers, and the computers that are for sale, there are no "real computers" in the store, by that I mean, with a hard drive, a locally installed OS, etc. All "computers" in the store are WYSE thin clients, that connect to the aforementioned Windows Server 2008 server to provide us with a "Desktop environment." Everyone has access to these computers, but the system will not let you log in, unless you're clocked in for work. This means if you need to even do something like change or setup your direct deposit information, you have to clock in before you can do so. The same goes for the registers as well.
-Anyone can be "register trained", that includes the people greeters, and the maintenance associates. They will be called to help with the registers in the event there aren't enough cashiers.
-Despite all of the IBM installed equipment, NCR actually comes and does our maintenance (NCR is IBM's largest competitor in the point of sale market). NCR also maintains everything else tech related in the store, from the registers, to the thin clients, to the server, my guide hubs, to the time clock. I never knew that NCR did IT Consulting until I started my work at Walmart. NCR actually services more IBM equipment than IBM does, all due to the Walmart contract.
-The Price verifiers have touch screens. As customers the only thing you can do is scan an item, and it'll tell you how much it is. The touch screens don't do anything unless you're an associate. Scan your badge, and the touchscreen comes to life, and lets you do random things from a price checker, such as Check your work schedule, or checking what you have to do for the day. They are Motorola MK4000, running on Windows CE. As a customer, whatever price is displayed on here, is EXACTLY what you'll get at the register, for they come from the same server. No need to ask twice.
-Every store associate has a Walmart email address. Most associates don't even know this, but it is .s@walmart.com. Associates can check their email from the company intranet, using Outlook Web Access. Again, you can only check your email while you're in the store, and clocked in.
- The handheld terminals, are Motorola MC55s for the CSMs, and Motorola MC3100 for the stockers, and sales floor Associates. The associates refer to them as "Telxons", "Gemeni", or "PDA"….At our store, associates like to call them the "Gemeni", me having a tech background, just called it a Motorola, and the other associates caught on. These run on either Windows Mobile or Windows CE depending on the device. Newer ones are all Windows Mobile 6.
-The aforementioned handheld terminals, like our registers, also do a lot more than you know, including tell us if a spill is too hazardous to touch or not. If it is too hazardous, Haz-Mat is called to throw the contents of it away. You could also check your MyGuide from these terminals if you have one.
Other random myths debunked you may or may not know about Walmart (At least at my store).
- We all actually enjoy our jobs. Despite all of the myths, they actually treat us pretty well. Never has anyone been fired or reprimanded for talking about a union etc, like the media said. Honestly with the way things are ran, its pretty hard to get fired from a Walmart, unless you're truly doing something wrong, such as stealing, or beating a customer up. We know what our job is, and for many, this is their only job.
- Walmart does not help you get government assistance, like the media said. Unless they mean going to Google or something while you're on a store computer- but obviously this doesn't count, as there are no signs, or anything. It would be truly your own choice to apply for government assistance.
- We recently had a Christmas party, at the party, there were prizes given out in drawings, ranging from $100 gift cards to random place such as AMC Theaters, to Walmart gift cards.
- It doesn't matter who you are, EVERYONE, even the store manager will have to clean up a spill if they see one. It is actually fun to see our store manager actually doing manual labor.
- Even the store manager will check people out at a register if the front end gets too busy.
- We get Christmas off. We are closed on Christmas.
- Home Office controls everything, right down to our schedules, and even the temperature of the store (HVAC system). They can adjust the temperature for you when you call them and ask them to.
- On regular days, at stores that are NOT 24 hours, the store is only closed to customers. There is A LOT going on while the store is closed, mainly the stockers, overnighters, and inventory workers.
- Granted we are a nicer store than most other Walmarts, I've never seen anyone who looked like people on PeopleOfWalmart.com
- Ol' Roy dog food is named that because Sam Walton's dog was named Roy.
- We usually get a discount of some type at businesses that chose to open their doors inside of a Walmart, such as the in-store Subway (some have a McD's), the hair cut place, or some extra perks with your account at the in-store bank branch.
- Us Walmart associates say that Target is our sworn enemy. We do support our company and our store, so what we can buy from Walmart, we actually do. Recently with the news about Target's credit card data being hacked, a lot of associates actually said things such as "haha sucks to be Target" or "They suck anyway and deserve to have that happen, should have came to Walmart", or "At least we were prepared, Target should have done better"….Some associates I think definitely get a little TOOO INTO IT…..Honestly I think we are on top of it, since we support Chip & PIN but no other retailer in the US that I know of does
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