The news: Walmart is the first retailer to sell Abbott’s over-the-counter blood sugar monitor in stores.

Digging into the details: Abbott’s FDA-approved Lingo continuous glucose monitor (CGM), designed for people without diabetes who want to monitor their blood sugar trends, is now available at 3,500 US Walmart Supercenters and on Walmart.com.

• Each device lasts 14 days, and a two-pack retails for under $50.
• Lingo got FDA approval in June 2024 and launched online with Amazon in February. It can also be purchased directly from Abbott online.
• Dexcom’s competing OTC blood sugar device, Stelo, approved in March 2024, sells on Amazon and the Stelo website. Two 14-day devices cost $99.
• The devices connect to smartphone apps and provide data on blood sugar changes and trends, with insights about what they mean.

Why it matters: Blood sugar monitoring is becoming popular among fitness and wellness enthusiasts, as well as GLP-1 weight loss medication users and people with prediabetes. Prescription CGM devices have long been used by insulin-dependent individuals with diabetes to monitor glucose levels and alert them to highs and lows.

• 7 out of 10 Lingo members use CGMs to better understand their health, per a November 2024 survey by Ipsos sponsored by Abbott.
• 84% agreed the device helped them understand how diet and exercise affect blood sugar.
• 1 in 3 reported that stress affected their blood-sugar levels more than expected.

Yes, and: Walmart health and wellness sales rose by low double-digit percentages in Q2 2025, primarily because of GLP-1 drug sales, per MarketWatch.

Our take: Walmart’s in-store rollout of Abbott’s Lingo CGM brings real-time health tracking to mainstream retail, helping to make advanced health tech part of everyday life. The widening availability and under-$50 price point will attract wellness-focused and GLP-1 customers seeking convenient data-driven tools.

For marketers, it highlights an opportunity to reach proactive health seekers who want personalized insights about nutrition, exercise, and stress. Broader adoption, however, will depend on awareness and education efforts that clearly show how glucose data leads to improved real-world health and wellness benefits.

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