How It Works: Ordering
• Customers visit Walmart.com/grocery and enter their zip code.• Customers can then browse the Walmart Grocery assortment online, which carry the same prices as local Walmart stores.• During checkout, customers choose a designated store to visit and select a time slot to pick up their order.• There is a $30 minimum purchase for all Walmart Grocery orders and pickup is free.Source: Wal-Mart
How It Works: Free Pickup
• Orders are fulfilled by Walmart personal shoppers. Customers will receive a phone call to let them know when their order is ready and the specific location at the store to pickup – usually in front of or at the side of the store.• Once customers arrive, there will be reserved parking spaces for online pickup customers and a designated number to call in order to alert an associate in the store. That associate will retrieve the prepared order and load it into the customer’s car.• Same-day pickup is available – orders placed by 1 a.m. will be available for pickup from 8 a.m. and orders placed by 10 a.m. will be available from 4 p.m.• Pickups can be scheduled seven days a week, up to three weeks in advance.Source: Wal-Mart
Starting Monday, curbside grocery pickup will be available at two Chattanooga-area Wal-Mart Supercenters: in Ooltewah and at the foot of Signal Mountain.
“The free service enables customers to order groceries online and pick them up at their local Walmart store without even leaving their cars,” the retail giant announced in a statement Friday.
Customers have to order at least $30 worth of items – but the service is free, and there’s no mark-up on items, Wal-Mart says. Same-day service is available, but it’s not instantaneous. For example, orders placed by 10 a.m. will be available at 4 p.m.
“Our customers have told us that grocery pick up is a game-changer,” said Bobby Pannell, store manager of the Walmart Supercenter at 501 Signal Mountain Road. “They are now able to complete their grocery shopping in a matter of minutes – between errands or on their way home from an after school activity – without even unbuckling their seat belts.”
Busy moms with young kids are part of Wal-Mart’s target audience for online grocery service, Wal-Mart spokesperson Ravid Jariwala said.
“Many of them place orders after the kids go to bed, as 8-9 p.m. is among the busiest [time period] for ordering,” Jariwala said.
Wal-Mart isn’t the first grocer to offer online shopping in the Chattanooga area. Food City rolled out curbside service this month at four stores: in Hixson, Red Bank, Ooltewah and Cleveland.
“We tried to pick some stores that would be in some good locations, that would give the customers a chance to try the program out,” Kevin Stafford, vice president of marketing at Virginia-based Food City, told the Times Free Press.
Shoppers go online and buy groceries through Food City’s website, and at checkout, can add curbside pickup – which is is available daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. – for an extra $5.
Online grocery shopping is spreading: Amazon.com recently introduced same-day delivery of goods in some cities, and Whole Foods touts “Groceries Delivered in 1 Hour!” – but neither currently is offered in Chattanooga.