Wal-Mart Stores Inc. today filed for a range of patents that indicates the retail giant is looking to use new technologies to change the shopping experience altogether.

One of those patents is a sensing device that may work with a shopper’s smartphone and a connected shopping cart, helping the shopper find certain items in the store. Other patents are on sensors that track inventory, and there are several other patents for in-store sensors.

All this points to Wal-Mart looking for its stores to become hyperconnected. It’s not only about the matter of convenience for shoppers, but this could mean a huge layoff of staff in the future. It’s also likely this futuristic store won’t have cashiers, much like Amazon Go stores.

Perhaps the most futuristic-sounding patent is for a drone that will assist customers as they walk around the store. According to the patent, this drone can be called upon to help a shopper navigate toward certain items, as well as provide information about an item.

If it sounds almost too automated, bear in mind that filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean this will happen. It’s not uncommon for companies to file patents and the technology never sees the light of day.

Wal-Mart has also filed a bunch of other patents not related to the shopping experience, such a reusable box lid. And if that sounds prosaic next to the other possibilities, earlier this month the company filed a patent for robotic bees that could pollinate crops.

Yes, if you’ve seen “Hated in the Nation,” an episode of the television series “Black Mirror,” that piece of news may send shivers down your spine, but in view of declining bee populations, these “pollination drones” may well be needed in the future. At the same time, Wal-Mart filed several other patents related to automated farming.

Since groceries now account for 56 percent of Wal-Mart’s revenue, it seems the company has its eyes set on such automated technologies as the solution to getting the freshest food to the store in the least amount of time. Perhaps in the near future, the only people in a store will be the actual shoppers.

Image: Mike Mozart via Flickr