Walmart wants to deliver groceries right into your fridge
Delivery workers who drop off Walmart groceries may soon also bring them into your kitchen and unload them into your refrigerator, even if you’re not home.
The world’s largest retailer said it is trying out the service with a small group of tech-savvy Walmart.com shoppers in California’s Silicon Valley who have internet-connected locks.
The delivery person is given a one-time code to open the door and customers get an alert on their smartphones when someone enters. If they have cameras set up in the home, customers can watch as their orders are dropped off.
“As the homeowner, I’m in control of the experience the entire time,” Sloan Eddleston, vicepresident of Walmart e-commerce strategy and business operations, wrote in a blog post on Friday. “I’m watching the entire process from start to finish from my home security cameras. As I watch the associate exit my front door, I even receive confirmation that my door has automatically been locked.”
Walmart said the in-home delivery service is aimed at families that don’t have time to stop at a store or unpack their groceries.
“This may not be for everyone,” wrote Eddleston, “but we want to offer customers the opportunity to participate in tests today and help us shape what commerce will look like in the future.”
The move comes as Walmart and Amazon accelerate the race to win over customers by offering evermore convenient technology.
Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported Amazon is working on a home security camera system that would allow customers to remotely access video feeds to see, for instance, when packages are delivered to their homes.
The $600-billion US grocery market has been a particular point of competition following Amazon’s $13.7-billion takeover of Whole Foods Market last month. Walmart announced this week that it would become the first retailer to allow customers to use food stamps to pay for online grocery orders. The company also recently announced that it was partnering with Google to allow shoppers to buy its products by speaking to Google Home devices.
Walmart’s latest partnership, with smart-technology company August Home and same-day delivery service Deliv, is still in the early stages, according to Walmart spokesperson Ravi Jariwala. He added that it was not clear how long the current test would last, or how the program might evolve.
“We want to start small so we can test and learn,” Jariwala said. “This may not necessarily become the norm. And it may not be for everyone, certainly not right away, but we see a lot of potential here.”