Walmart launches automated grocery kiosk
Walmart is once again raising the stakes in the online grocery game.
In another move that takes a direct hit at AmazonFresh Pickup, the discounter quietly began testing an automated kiosk at a single store in Oklahoma. The 20-ft.-by-80-ft. kiosk, which resides in the parking lot at the Walmart Super Center in Oklahoma City, is fulfilling hundreds of grocery orders placed by customers who shop online or through their mobile browser, according to The Oklahoman.
Walmart spokesman Scott Markley said in the report that shoppers using the kiosk can pick up groceries in “just a few minutes.” He added that it gives the store's online shoppers “another option they can use to save time.”
Online shoppers can choose from more than 30,000 items, including fresh produce, meats, dairy products and organic groceries, and picked up free at the kiosk. The minimum purchase is $30.
The new concept dovetails into Walmart’s other newly introduced order pickup services. During the company’s 47th Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, president and CEO Doug McMillon mentioned tests of “pickup stations in store parking lots” while noting some of the company’s programs designed to empower and benefit customers. These outdoor drive-thru stations, which are currently available at two recently-opened supercenters in Tomball, Texas, and Lake Nona, Florida, enable shoppers to pick up their online orders without leaving their car.
Walmart also is leveraging its vast store network as buy-online-pickup-in-store points for online goods. To sweeten the deal, in April, the discounter announced it would offer a discount on select items that are ordered online and then picked up in the store.
These services are the latest moves that Walmart has made against rival Amazon, as the online giant continues to edge its way into the grocery space. In May, the online retailer launched its AmazonFresh Pickup concept, a service that enables Prime members to order groceries online and pick them up in as little as 15 minutes. It is currently available in two locations in Seattle.