BENTONVILLE, ARK. - Walmart is ending its contract with Bossa Nova Robotics, which has provided shelf-scanning robots to over 500 Walmart stores. 

Bossa Nova’s robots scan store shelves to check for out-of-stock and misplaced items. Walmart first entered into a partnership with the robotics company in 2017.  

The retailer did not specify why it is ending its contract with Bossa Nova, which had previously announced that the retailer was expanding the technology to 1,000 stores. 

The retailer has noted that as online orders have increased, more workers are roaming the aisles to pull orders together and are able to check shelves for inventory. Robots that clean floors and upload inventory, however, will remain in Walmart locations. 

"We will continue testing new technologies and investing in our own processes and apps to best understand and track our inventory and help move products to our shelves as quickly as we can," Walmart said in a statement.