Walmart Expanding Free Curbside Grocery Pickup Service

Walmart is expanding its free curbside grocery pickup service to eight new markets.

The mega-retailer announced in a blog post Wednesday that the service would be available in the eight additional cities by the end of April and in more locations throughout the year.

As of the beginning of April, Walmart offered free curbside grocery pickup in more than 20 markets.

The service involves ordering groceries online, including perishable items, and picking them up at a store. A Walmart worker grabs the items you ordered from shelves before bringing out your order and loading it into your car at a time of your choosing.

The service is billed as a time-saver that involves no additional costs. As Michael Bender, the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart Global eCommerce, writes in the blog post:

What if you could get your grocery shopping done quickly and easily, without having to add more time or take away from other activities that you’d rather spend your time on? That’s precisely what we’re doing with grocery pickup.

The Associated Press reports that Walmart’s expansion of free curbside grocery pickup is an effort to capitalize on the chain’s ability to combine its brick-and-mortar stores with online shopping. The retailer has more than 4,500 locations in the U.S. alone.

Walmart competitor Amazon offers Prime Pantry, which ships nonperishable groceries to customers’ homes. But that service is only available to customers with a $99-per-year Amazon Prime subscription and entails a delivery fee.

Walmart also offers grocery delivery for a fee, but that service is currently available in only a few markets.

The new cities where Walmart is expanding its free curbside grocery pickup service to this month are:

• Kansas City (both Missouri and Kansas)
• Boise, Idaho
• Richmond, Virginia
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Austin, Texas
• Provo, Utah
• Daphne, Alabama
• Charleston, South Carolina

Walmart is also doubling the number of store pickup locations in some markets where the service is already offered, including:

• Dallas
• Houston
• Atlanta

To find out if grocery pickup is offered at a store near you, visit grocery.walmart.com and enter your ZIP code. To learn more about the service, visit the Walmart Grocery help page.

In at least some markets, Walmart Grocery is currently offering $10 off your first order if you spend at least $50. You’ll see a banner about the promotion after you enter your ZIP code if it’s available in your area. If so, use promo code REALEASY, which is valid through Nov. 1.

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