Walmart managers are going to extreme lengths to get customers to complete the retailer's checkout survey. It's confusing shoppers and workers.
Dominick Reuter/Insider
- Some Walmart managers are trying to get as many customers as possible to do a survey at checkout.
- The survey has attracted confusion from customers and employees.
- It's not always clear to employees or customers what the survey evaluates.
When you check out at Walmart, a survey pops up on a screen, prompting you to rate your satisfaction with your visit on a scale of one to five stars.
For Walmart customers and employees, it's proving a source of confusion and annoyance.
Some customers have posted on social media platforms complaining that it's unclear what the survey is meant to evaluate, particularly when customers are asked to evaluate their satisfaction after a self-checkout experience.
"You want me to rate my experience?" Chad Pettit said in a video posted on TikTok in May. "What, like, tell you how well I think I did?" Pettit said in the post that he had used self-checkout.
@chad.pettit The survey for the seld checkout is one of the weirdest things ever. I mean, I did all the work! 🤣
♬ original sound - Chad Pettit
Another user, @dexterbear97, said in a video posted in March that a Walmart employee filled out the survey for him.
"The survey screen comes up, and they immediately press five stars," he said in the video.
@dexterbear97 Walmart was so out of pocket for this.
♬ original sound - DexterBear97
Customers have also complained about the survey on Reddit.
"There is this lady who works the self-checkout that will breathe down my neck and jump as soon as those stars hit the screen," the post reads. "She literally reached over my shoulder while my receipt printed to pick 5 stars HERSELF."
Two Walmart associates told Insider that the pressure to have each customer fill out the survey came from store managers.
Stores are supposed to aim for an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars, the two employees told Insider. Store managers receive an annual bonus depending on the rating, they said.
One associate at a Walmart store in the Southwest told Insider that their store manager reminded employees daily to get customers to fill out the survey.
"If customers walk away and they don't push anything, it is implied for us to take the five star anyway," the employee said.
On Reddit, posters who say they are Walmart employees have discussed the pressure they're under to receive five stars and say managers have asked them to stand with customers at registers to make sure they fill out the survey.
Managers trying to get as many responses as possible to the survey appear to be at odds with Walmart's guidance.
One photo from Walmart's internal portal for employees posted on Reddit — which Insider verified with a current associate — says there's "no need to ask customers to respond to surveys as we receive a large amount of responses."
"Stores should not post custom survey signage, provide incentives or ask customers to complete surveys," the guidance adds.
Walmart is "always looking for feedback from our customers," and "5-Star is one way we do that," a company spokesperson told Insider. "It is a survey we've been conducting over the last number of years as a means to gather information on what customers think about their experience in stores," the spokesperson added. "It's a simple one question survey with no follow up."
The spokesperson said: "Any case where associates are encouraged to or feel pressured to take the survey is an exception not the rule. We have many ways for associates to report — anonymously or not — incidents such as this."
Still, some managers are public in their attempt to boost responses to the survey. One Walmart in Georgia allowed an associate who collected the most completed surveys to throw a pie into a manager's face.
"Hannah won with 39 five-star surveys!" the caption on a Facebook video showing the pie-ing reads. "Way to go, Hannah!"
A Facebook video from a Texas Walmart shows an enthusiastic employee standing with a colleague who manages self-checkout kiosks at the store. The employee gives the self-checkout worker a high five before explaining the five-star survey and implores viewers to fill it out.
"So come on down, give him five stars, and give him the pat on the back he deserves," the employee tells the viewer.
Exactly what customers react to when they fill out the five-star survey is unclear. Associates told Insider that there's no opportunity for customers to elaborate on their rating, making it impossible to know what needs to be improved.
"The person can't even say why they're giving the bad review," the associate in the Southwest told Insider. "It's meaningless."
Do you work for Walmart or Spark and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@insider.com.
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