Walmart Grocery Pickup — Old School Idea with a New Twist

MANCHESTER, CT — The Manchester Walmart has adopted an old-school tradition that puts a new spin on buying groceries at a national chain — parking lot pickups.

In a way, it's like the old drive-in diners, with online ordering and no rollerskates of course. Customers can call up the Walmart ordering app, make a checklist and submit it. A grocery clerk at the local store then does the shopping. If an item offered online does not match store inventory, then a similar item is substituted.

Customers are notified when the order is ready, and can pull into a reserved space once at the store.

The customer then calls a number posted at the parking spaces and a clerk brings the groceries to the car and reviews the entire rerceipt.

Walmart in March announced plans to make an online grocery delivery option available at more than 40 percent of U.S. households by the end of the year.

The service will eventually grow to serve more than 100 metro areas across the country, chain officials said.

“We’re saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use,” said Greg Foran, president and CEO, Walmart U.S. “We’re serving our customers in ways that no one else can. Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country.”

It's getting Walmart prices without physically going into Walmart.

Right now, the Manchester Walmart, located in the Buckland Hills commercial district, offers curbside pickups and will soon start offering delivery options, the clerk delivering at the store said.

The service is available at mosat Walmart supercenters in the area.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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