Shadowing Practice: How Walmart Is Hoping Its New Tech Will Help Shoppers And Employees - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you think about digital shelf labels, what we're doing here is trying to make things super easy for associates and the customer.
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And as you think about technology in general, that's what we're doing.
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These are Walmart's new digital shelf labels, or DSLs.
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They're used in more than 4 ,300 U .S stores already
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and expected to be chain -wide by the end of the year.
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With DSLs, employees update prices using a mobile app rather than using paper tags, which can otherwise take all day.
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Before we had digital tax, every single time that you would do like a modular that is new, you're going to have to use everything in paper.
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So we're going to have to look back and forth to see where it belongs.
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Other than helping staff with stocking and returns, they also speed up the time it takes the consumer to find an item.
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A Walmart store typically carries around 120 ,000 items.
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It's all about, are we taking away tasks that associates don't find value at?
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If you took the customer's position on that, they want to see the price.
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They want it clearly visible.
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And then if they're struggling trying to find an item, they want to be able to get in and get out with speed.
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DSLs are a part of Walmart's recent focus on improving the in -store experience.
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Sales were lower than expected in its latest quarter.
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In fact, it was the company's smallest sales gain in more than six years.
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Analysts say it has less to do with Walmart and more to do with Americans' finances.
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Shoppers across the country are spending cautiously as the war in Iran and inflation continue to drive up prices.
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That's put pressure on Walmart's stock since May.
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But Walmart's new tech also comes as consumer anxiety over dynamic pricing is front and center.
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Shoppers worry the system will mimic rideshare apps or airlines' ability to increase prices based on demand, though the company has pushed back.
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Walmart is going all in on technology right now.
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I'm at a store outside of New York to take a closer look at some of these new features.
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Walmart has been trying to enhance its customer experience for years, from delivery times and drone delivery to inside its stores.
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Since 2024, it's spent billions on modernizing hundreds of locations and building dozens of new ones.
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Its latest 20 stores have features like QR codes and DSLs.
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The biggest priority that we had is how do we continue to accelerate from a speed standpoint?
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We have a Walmart store located within 10 miles of 90 % of the U .S population.
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And so our focus is how do we get goods to the consumer faster than ever before?
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So we're in the pharmacy section.
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I'm looking for magnesium.
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OK, so we'll hit magnesium.
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This first one looks great.
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Should tell us aisle G9.
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And then we will say flash the price tag.
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There it is.
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And there it is.
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So this is the one you want.
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Cathy says the feature has been used 5 million times since its rollout this year.
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Staff has their own version called the pick -to -light feature.
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Their other tool is called Stock -to -Light, which shows which shelves are empty or low on inventory.
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How do these digital shelf labels fit into Walmart's broader technology strategy?
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What we're doing here is trying to make things super easy for associates and the customer.
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Walmart is also expanding its radio frequency identification, or RFID technology, which it's used for decades.
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These are smart chips that use radio waves to track products throughout the store and supply chain.
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Almost all of our items in apparel have electronic product codes in them.
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We would spend all of our time counting this to make sure we had the right amount of stock on the floor.
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Now you can use that RFID just to scan this and you capture all of that data.
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For a retailer that's constantly managing price and inventory, these small changes could have a big impact and further set it apart from competitors.
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Especially as inflation remains high and spending slow.
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Analysts say Walmart is winning and retaining customers in part because of its rollbacks, what it calls temporary price drops, and deals.
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It more than doubled the markdowns in its most recent quarter.
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Now it'll have an easier time managing them at a time when consumers need them the most.
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Dynamic pricing, which is when businesses change prices in real time based on market demand, is controversial.
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States like Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey have enacted laws that restrict the use of personal data to set individualized prices.
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This is a form of dynamic pricing called surveillance pricing.
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The FTC is considering a ban, too.
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New Jersey went a step further in July, implementing a one -year pause on any new electronic shelf labels while the state studies them.
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Walmart told CNBC in a statement
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that its DSL technology has already been installed in its New Jersey stores and that its labels are,
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quote, not a tool for surveillance pricing and are simply a modern way to display a price.
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DSLs operate on a closed system and do not interact with shoppers or collect any information about them.
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Walmart's price changes are mostly planned ahead of time
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and done overnight there's a person not a robot making the
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pricing decisions although the system is what implements them plus some
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store managers will still be able to lower prices for customers
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in real time to remain competitive digital shelf labels have been around for a long time
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so this is actually not new technology
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but we designed it to display a price
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and to be able to identify
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and flash for a customer associate that's what we designed this technology to do and and that's what the technology is doing.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 72 sentences and 978 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:52. The speaker talks at a natural 167 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| label noun | /ˈleɪ.bəl/ | A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. |
| shelf noun | /ʃɛlf/ | A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects. |
| associate noun | /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/ | A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner or employee. |
| dynamic adjective | /daɪˈnæm.ɪk/ | Changing; active; in motion. |
| flash verb | /flæʃ/ | To cause to shine briefly or intermittently. |
| implement verb | /ˈɪmpləmənt/ | To bring about; to put into practice; to carry out. |
| surveillance noun | /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ | Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion. |
| inflation noun | /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/ | An act, instance of, or state of expansion or increase in size, especially by injection of a gas or liquid. |
| inventory noun | /ˈɪn.vən.tɹi/ | The stock of an item on hand at a particular location or business. |
| analyst noun | /ˈænəlɪst/ | Someone who analyzes. |
| temporary adjective | /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/ | Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| tag noun | /tæɡ/ | A small label. |
| capture verb | /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ | To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| drive up verb | To cause or force a price, quantity, rate, etc. to increase. | |
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). | |
| push back verb | To refute or argue against a position or an accusation; to express one's own view on a situation. | |
| speed up verb | /spiːdˈʌp/ | To accelerate; to increase speed. |
| take away verb | /ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/ | To remove something and put it in a different place. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has pushed · has been · have enacted |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is called · been installed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | tags, which can · pricing, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shelf /ʃɛlf/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, flash /flæʃ/, inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/
- Long words — get the stress right: associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, controversial /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like label, shelf, associate.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.