Walmart robot janitors will mop floors, scan shelves, sort items and more

Walmart's "customer hosts" will still greet customers but have additional and physically demanding responsibilities, which means eliminating greeters. Walmart is planning to use thousands of robots for a wide variety of tasks within its stores following a "well-received" round of tests in 2018. "Smart assistants have huge potential to make busy stores run more smoothly," the nation's largest private employer said in a news release. Walmart, which employs 1.5 million associates in the U.S. alone, said in the release Tuesday that the plans will give employees "more of an opportunity to do what they're uniquely qualified for" which is serve customers face-to-face on the sales floor. Walmart isn't the only retailer that has robots roaming around.