Walmart’s Buy Online/Pick-Up In Store Discount

U.S. customers who make use of Walmart’s buy online/pick-up in store program will have a little bit of extra cash in their wallets at the end of the weekly grocery run.  According to reports, Walmart will be offering “pick-up” discounts for BOPIS customers.

Online orders picked up at a store are already a way to avoid a delivery charge — but the new discounts are actually cash-backs.  A customers who buys a 70-inch 4K Ultra HD television priced at $1,698 will save about $50 by ordering online and grabbing in the store.

The move comes as one of many efforts Walmart has been making of late to boost its presence as an online commerce player. Walmart’s head of eCommerce, Marc Lore, told Reuters that the discounting has the dual benefits of potentially boosting transactions both online and bringing foot traffic to its stores.

“This is a very material change in the value proposition we are offering customers,” he said.

Lore also noted that the discounts are affordable because of Walmart’s massive logistical capabilities with a fleet 6,700 trucks to deliver products from warehouses to stores.

Lore, since assuming command of Walmart’s eCommerce operation last summer with the acquisition of Jet.com, has been very active in his new role. Walmart eCommerce under Lore has acquired three online retailers, reset Walmart’s eCommerce staffing and made two-day shipping free on all online orders over $35, without any membership fees.

And the eCommerce department is not the only team getting in on the act — the great digital commerce leap forward is clearly a team effort.

In a separate blog post, Mark Ibbotson, executive vice president of central operations, noted that same-day pick up service is expanding and that the pick-up tower is rolling out to more stores.  The pick-up tower is a giant vending machine that delivers packages ordered online when a customer enters a bar code.