Shopping is nothing like it used to be. The coronavirus pandemic has changed pretty much everything. Honestly, sometimes we used to enjoy going to stores just to look around and see what they had. Sometimes we would meet friends there and grab coffee afterwards. Currently, that is not even possible.

With strict social distancing measures in place across the country and all non-essential stores temporarily closed, shopping in an actual store has become something we only do if we absolutely have to instead of something fun. We shop online and have everything including groceries delivered to our door whenever possible, but when we do brave the grocery stores, we’ve noticed quite a few changes.

These changes are good and necessary as we fight the good fight against COVID-19. For most of us, that fight means staying home, social distancing and wearing face masks when we’re in public places.

In order to make it easier to practice social distancing while shopping for groceries, many stores have placed strict limits on the number of people who can be in the store at one time, and some have placed markers on the floor to help people stay six feet apart when waiting in line.

Walmart is one of these stores, but the big box retailer is taking it a step further. While they were already limiting the number of people in the store to approximately 20% of the store’s capacity, they still noticed some issues in regards to social distancing, so they decided to try something new – one-way aisles.

For a couple weeks now, Walmart has been testing out one-way aisles in some of their stores. It must have been a success, because starting today, April 23, 2020, all Walmart stores across the country will now have one-way aisles. Customers will see green “Shop This Way” decals on the floor that indicate which way customers should move through the aisle. They will also see red “Do Not Shop This Way” decals on the opposite end of the aisle.

In a statement on social media, Walmart Corporate explained the reasoning for the one-way aisles.

“One-way aisles are designed to increase social distancing and give customers more space on each aisle.”

Walmart is not the only store to move to one-way aisles. The Kroger Co., Hy-Vee and Giant Food are all testing out one-way aisles in some of their stores too. 

Do you think one-way aisles will help with social distancing? Are you more likely to choose to shop at a store with one-way aisles?