Walmart just added a mysterious device to shopping carts, and what people think it does is raising major privacy concerns

Walmart shoppers have spotted some changes at stores lately. Many locations now use digital displays instead of regular price tags. This made people think the store was using “dynamic pricing,” but there’s no proof of that happening.

According to Bro Bible, some Walmart stores have also updated their shopping carts. The carts look almost the same as before, but there’s a strange new addition underneath that’s confusing shoppers. A TikTok video by user @chicago_0629 got over 1.4 million views showing a Walmart cart. 

The video shows a small white plastic box attached under the cart. The TikToker claims Walmart now has “a tracker for everything you put in the cart.” Videos about these devices have been appearing since at least September 2025, but nobody knows exactly what they do.

The tracker isn’t spying on your shopping items

The device is actually a “MOKOSmart LW008-MTP Small LoRaWAN GPS Tracker.” It is a tracker, but it doesn’t monitor what you put in your cart. The device uses GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi to track where the shopping carts are located in real time.

Why Walmart does this isn’t completely clear. A 2018 report said Walmart patented a system to track customer positions inside stores. The store could use this data to change store layouts and increase sales. It’s unknown if Walmart actually uses this system or just patented the idea.

The tracker might simply help Walmart keep track of their carts. Walmart has been fined before for abandoned shopping carts left outside stores. About 2 million shopping carts are lost or stolen every year. GPS tracking could help the store find missing carts and prevent theft. This isn’t the first time shoppers discovered unusual checkout system features at Walmart stores.

Some stores already use truly “smart” shopping carts. A Kansas City Price Chopper location showed these carts on CBS Sunday Morning in November 2024. These carts automatically detect items placed inside and can guide shoppers to products. Customers can check out directly from the cart when done shopping.

Many commenters criticized Walmart’s tech investment. One person wrote, “The no prices on the tags now this… bye Walmart.” Another said, “But they can’t add Google Pay or Apple Pay at checkout.” Shoppers remain cautious about potential payment system issues at self-checkout. A third commenter asked, “Wait, people are still stopping at Walmart?.”