Walmart Rolls Out Grocery Pickup Service

Frequent customers of Walmart will now have the chance to order their groceries online to be picked up at their local store at certain trial locations, AZ Central reports. The service is being demoed in a few stores in Arizona, Denver, and select locations around Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. The service initially premiered in San Jose in 2011, where home delivery is also included.

Most goods are available for online ordering, similar to the Peapod delivery service, but unlike Peapod, there is no fee for using the service, just a $30 minimum order. Customers use the service by entering in their zip code so they can select a specific store where they can pick up their groceries. A four-hour time window is then chosen at least six hours in advance of when the order was placed. Once in the store at the desired pickup time, the customer calls an associate within the store who will then load the items into the car.

“The service is a convenient option for parents, shoppers with mobility challenges and those who want to shop on their own schedule,” Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said. “Plus, it offers shoppers a way to save time.” Jariwala hopes to expand the service to more stores, but he said the retailer doesn’t have a timeline at the moment.

Grocery stores are increasingly offering home delivery and online ordering as a way of making shopping more flexible for busy customers in what is being considered a time of disruption for the industry. Safeway offers a similar service to Walmart that also includes delivery, but the minimum purchase price is $49, and includes a delivery fee of $8-$12 along with gas surcharges where applicable. Outside of the United States, Tesco unveiled its own mobile shopping feature for customers last year with the PayQwiq app to handle payments.