Walmart opens automated pick-up location for online groceries

American store chain Walmart opened an automated pick-up location for online groceries in Oklahoma. Customers will be able to pick up their orders 24 hours a day.

30,000 products

The booth is 6 by 25 meters and can harbor 30,000 products, including cooled and frozen items. Customers will get a code they will need to use to access the location and their order within a minute.

It is not clear what Walmart has planned for this new service, but it is very likely it will open similar locations elsewhere if this pilot is deemed to be successful. Walmart could use these booths to create pick-up locations nowhere near one of its stores. 

Walmart customers were already able to pick up their online orders at more than 1,000 Walmart stores, but it is still expanding the service and hopes to have every one of its 4,600 stores covered within the next few years.

It was only recently revealed that Walmart will use its own employees on their way from or to work as couriers for online deliveries.

It is yet another step in Walmart and Amazon’s continuous American battle to please the online customer. Amazon recently opened Amazon Fresh pick-up locations, where Amazon Prime subscribers can pick up their groceries after only fifteen minutes.