Walmart shoppers left stunned after realizing products have secret codes hidden within them
Shoppers have been left stunned after discovering hidden barcodes in Walmart's Great Value brand products.
A worker, known as beatsbycait on TikTok, showed off the invisible barcodes with a scanner in a recent video.
'Real ones know almost all great value items have hidden bar codes,' she captioned her clip.
The TikToker used the scanner on six different Great Value products, pointing it directly at the middle of each item rather than at a barcode.
The tech, which saves shoppers the time spent searching for barcodes on items at self checkout, was originally introduced in 2019, but many shoppers are still finding out about it to this day.
'As someone who worked for Walmart many years, please explain how?,' one TikToker wrote.
'I thought I was tripping,' another Walmart employee responded.
Invisible barcodes were also brought in to make it more difficult for shoplifters to steal items by pretending to scan them.
The invisible barcodes were first introduced to Walmart branded items in 2019 through the chain's partnership with Digimarc.
Digimarc barcodes are invisible to the naked eye, but are printed all over an item enabling it to be easily picked up by a self-checkout scanner.
'It's really cool how it's embedded in the art itself in each layer,' another person commented on the TikTok video.
Walmart began using the technology as a way to crack down on shoplifting at self-checkouts.
'It's to stop skip scanning. If they pass it over the scanner in any direction it scans,' another user wrote.
'Walmart is a forward-thinking technology leader with an unwavering focus on customer experience,' said Digimarc CEO Riley McCormack in 2022, when the company said it was extending its partnership with Walmart.
'We are thrilled to expand our partnership with them and look forward to sharing more details about this expansion in the coming months.'
Besides invisible barcodes, Walmart has added other gadgets to self-checkout machines in order to crack down on card skimming.
The tech, which saves shoppers the time spent searching for barcodes on items at self checkout, was originally brought in at Walmart in 2019
It also unveiled a $9 billion investment in-store makeovers, which is currently in its full rollout.
But the company has also been in hot water this month due to the removal of a popular perk and price hikes.
The company confirmed its plans to raise prices as the result of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump after meeting with him in April.
It also announced earlier this week that around 1,500 US jobs will be slashed due to a restructuring plan being implemented to cut expenses and simplify operations.
The layoffs will hit employees who work in its global technology operations, e-commerce fulfillment, and its ad sales division Walmart Connect.
In addition to the layoffs, Walmart shuttered its North Carolina office and is relocating workers to main hubs in California and Arkansas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Gold holds firm as markets await US payroll data for direction
June 5 (Reuters) - Gold prices remained stable on Thursday as investors assessed weaker-than-expected U.S. data and ongoing global economic and political uncertainties, while looking ahead to U.S. payroll data for further economic cues. Spot gold was steady at $3,372.82 an ounce, as of 0210 GMT. U.S. gold futures edged down 0.1% to $3,395.50. "Like most markets at present, gold finds itself in a holding pattern and at the whim of Trump's trade headlines — supported, yet hesitant to trade above this week's high," said Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index. "Volatility is also suppressed while we await comments from FOMC members and Friday's NFP report ... If anything, it points to a stronger jobs change figure, which could weigh on gold." The U.S. services sector contracted in May for the first time in nearly a year, as businesses faced higher input costs amid growing fears of stagflation. Gold gained support after the Federal Reserve reported a slowdown in U.S. economic activity, citing rising costs and prices driven by increased tariff rates since the last policy meeting. Bullion gained additional momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his call to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday to cut interest rates. The ADP National Employment Report showed that U.S. private employers added in May the fewest number of workers in more than two years, with investors awaiting Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for further clues on the labor market. Trump's doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports took effect, with his administration seeking "best offers" from trade partners to avoid further levies slated for July. Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as "extremely hard to make a deal with," highlighting tensions ahead of a long-awaited call between the two leaders this week. Gold, a safe-haven asset during times of political and economic uncertainty, tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 1.3% to $34.51 an ounce, platinum rose 0.9% to $1,093.07 and palladium was steady at $1.001.70.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Kimberly-Clark nears $3.5 billion sale of global tissue business to Suzano, WSJ reports
June 4 (Reuters) - Kimberly-Clark (KMB.O), opens new tab is nearing a sale of its Kleenex and tissue businesses outside of North America for around $3.5 billion to Brazilian pulpmaker Suzano ( opens new tab, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A deal could be completed as soon as Thursday, the report said on Wednesday. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Kimberly-Clark and Suzano did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Reuters had reported in April citing people with knowledge of the matter that along with Suzano, Southeast Asia's Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) and Asia Pulp & Paper Co (APP) were the final bidders for Kimberly-Clark's international tissue business, valued at around $4 billion. The unit, which was put on the block by Kimberly-Clark as part of a restructuring initiated last year, generates around $500 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The sale is proceeding as U.S. President Donald Trump's broad trade tariffs weigh on Kimberly-Clark's business outlook. The consumer goods company slashed its annual profit forecast due to increased costs in April as a result of the tariffs. In 2022, Suzano announced a deal to buy the Irving, Texas-headquartered company's tissue paper operations in Brazil for an undisclosed sum.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Is AI about to steal your job?
Over the weekend, Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, arguably Open AI's greatest rival, issued a stark warning. He claimed that AI's rapid advancement could lead to the disappearance of half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next one to five years, as well as 10-20% unemployment levels in the United States by the end of the decade. 'Everyone I've talked to has said this technological change looks different. It looks faster, it looks harder to adapt to … We're not going to prevent it just by saying everything's going to be OK.' The tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker tells Michael Safi that we are already seeing some companies reduce their workforce in favour of AI, with office workers now more at risk than during previous rounds of automation. While Stokel-Walker is wary of believing all the hype that a tech boss might generate, he explains that the recent emergence of agentic AI (one that can be instructed to complete tasks autonomously) is a significant development. The pair discuss how governments should be preparing for huge potential shifts in people's relationship to the economy, and what individuals can do within their own careers to protect themselves from being replaced by AI. Support the Guardian today:
