Walmart online pickup has made my life infinitely easier. Hands down, it has permanently changed the way I shop for groceries, for the better. Even before its recent popularity and prior to becoming a mom, I was using the Walmart grocery app.
When I was single, I shopped primarily at Albertson’s because of its ease of use. I could get in and out of the store in ten minutes or less.
We all know that physically going inside Walmart requires a lot of effort. Most of the parking lots are huge and the store layouts require you to walk all the way to the back just for milk and eggs. I was not having it, so I preferred to pay extra to shop at Albertson’s.
Everything changed in 2016 when my local Walmart started online grocery pickup. As an older millenial, I was intrigued by the ease of use and the fact that I didn’t even have to get out of my car. I started using Walmart online pickup immediately and never turned back.
As a working mother, Walmart online pickup has saved my sanity. I absolutely love it and wonder why more people haven’t discovered online grocery shopping.
Quality of food items
There’s always a stigma about Walmart and other big box stores. I know some people who won’t even set foot inside of a Walmart, like my mother, for example.
There’s a host of reasons why people don’t like Walmart, whether it’s general business practices, the monopoly they seem to have over America, poor products, employee treatment, etc.
The only thing I was wary about was the quality of the products. When I first started shopping there, I only shopped for name-brand items because I was very iffy about their Great Value brand.
Over time, I have grown to like most of their store-brand products. There are some Great Value items that do seem subpar and I will not buy them again, but they are far and few between.
Generally, as a busy working mom, my main concern is getting dinner on the table in the most efficient way possible, and Walmart does help me with that. So, I try not to feed into all the reasons why people dislike it.
Ease of use of Walmart online pickup
Luckily, my local Walmart is only 2.3 miles from my house and in the same area as my office. The Walmart app allows you to choose your pickup store, date and time slot up to a week ahead of time. In the screenshot below, the slots are full a few days ahead due to in-store Covid restrictions in my state. Normally, I’m able to order my groceries and pick them up the next day.
When I was working in the office, I would often choose to pickup my groceries during my lunch hour. Other women in my office who lived farther away would also pickup at the same Walmart and keep their perishable items in the office refrigerator until they left for the day. Genius? Working moms have to do whatever works, right?
Walmart doesn’t hold you to the exact one hour time frame. As long as you pick up your groceries by the time the store closes that day, you won’t be charged a fee. I only know this because one of my coworkers completely forgot about her groceries and picked them up the next day, with a small fee.
Shop anytime
My favorite part of online grocery shopping is my online cart’s availability. I can fill it at any moment, whether I’m browsing the fridge or pantry, cooking, or just when the need for an item pops in my head. I end up shopping throughout the week, which is convenient.
Walmart allows me to ‘edit’ my cart up to a certain point, so I can use this option to add items that I forgot. I’m not limited to what I initially submitted. The only annoying thing about adding on to an existing order is that Walmart will charge me two separate transactions. So, once for the original order and then again for the add-on order.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been able to plan out and purchase our entire Thanksgiving meal without setting foot in a store, which is amazing. And we cook everything from scratch!
Substitutions
Most of the time, Walmart has the products I request. I would say 95% of the time. When they don’t, you can choose ‘substitutions’ at checkout and your shopper will add something similar. Usually, the substitution is just a different brand or a different size of the original product you requested.
Prior to picking up your order, you will receive an e-mail to accept or deny the substitutions. I always just accept them because I get better items when the shopper substitutes. And it makes life easier for everyone.
Affordability
Walmart in general is very affordable. Sometimes, I will get ads in the mail for other stores and see better prices for meat or produce. Does this make me want to shop at the other store for that particular product? Yes, in a way. But I also don’t want to stop at four different stores to do my weekly grocery shopping.
Inevitably, there are times when we need one product and I don’t have the minimum order amount of $30.00 to pick it up at Walmart. So, my husband will stop by Albertson’s (remember, easy in and out) every now and then to get those items.
I did think about switching to Albertson’s a few months ago. They do have better produce and my daughter eats a ton of fresh fruit. Then, I went on their app to try out an order and it turns out they don’t have the app available for my local store. So, I would need to shop on their full website, which I didn’t find mobile friendly.
Walmart online pickup wins the day
It works well for a busy, professional mother. I tend to plan out my dinners and ingredients for the week, so being able to shop online while I’m planning is excellent.
In addition, I’ll occasionally watch Walmart-only grocery hauls on YouTube. Those are great because I get to see what the store really has to offer in terms of product. It has also greatly improved my cooking.
I can certainly see our options changing with time, especially if new, local grocery stores start popping up in the area. Unfortunately, I live in a more remote suburban area of a large city, so Walmart and Albertson’s are my only options within a 30 minute radius.
I’ll continue my journey with Walmart online grocery and see where it takes me.