Walmart will test grocery deliveries at customers ’homes

Walmart already leaves groceries at customers ’doors and, in some cities, places them directly inside the refrigerator. The company said Tuesday it will soon try another convenient approach: deliveries to a smart refrigerator on customers ’porch or near the front door.

Starting in the spring, the retailer said it will start a pilot in its hometown, Bentonville, Arkansas. It will provide participating customers with a smart temperature-controlled refrigerator called HomeValet. The refrigerator will be placed outside your home, allowing safe and contactless food deliveries throughout the day.

“The outlook for this technology is intriguing, both for customers and for Walmart’s last-mile delivery efforts,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of U.S. customer products, in a post on the website of the company. “For customers, they don’t need to plan the day the grocery delivery will take place. For Walmart, it offers the opportunity to deliver items 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

He said the retailer still has no plans for 24-7 deliveries, however.

Walmart is the largest supermarket in the United States and has made free and unlimited grocery deliveries a central advantage of its new subscription-based service, Walmart +. The service, which launched in September, costs money $ 98 a year or $ 12.95 a month compared to Amazon Prime, which costs $ 119 a year or $ 12.99 a month. It includes other benefits, such as fuel discounts and access to a smartphone app that allows shoppers to skip the payline.

The retail giant launched its grocery delivery service in 2018. During the pandemic, Walmart and other retailers have seen online grocery purchases gain in popularity as customers look for convenient, contactless ways to store their pantries and refrigerators from home deliveries through last mile services. like Instacart to pick up outside of a retailer’s store.

Even before the global health crisis, Walmart experimented with new grocery delivery options. In 2019, it launched an membership program called InHome Food Delivery to Selected Cities that puts fresh fruit, meat and other groceries directly into customers ’refrigerators for $ 19.95 a month. It requires additional security measures, including a smart door lock kit or a smart kit for garage doors in buyers ’homes and an additional background check and training for employees.

The service continues to operate in certain cities: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Vero Beach, Florida and West Palm Beach, Florida. During the pandemic, the company has changed its approach to meet local restrictions, a company spokeswoman said: “It only makes deliveries to the kitchen in Pittsburgh. In other cities, it places items right on the doorstep. the houses or inside the garages.

With the new HomeValet pilot, groceries will be left in rectangular refrigerators developed by a start-up. They have three areas that can contain food at different temperatures, including frozen, refrigerated or stored at room temperature as in a pantry. To make a delivery, a Walmart employee can use a device to lock and unlock the smart refrigerator.