Wal-Mart tests Pickup Grocery with the public, order error noted and fixed

Ability to quickly assess customer demand, redefine the shopping process and give consumers time savings on top of low prices are just a few reasons Wal-Mart Stores – the nation’s largest grocer – is testing its unique “Pickup Grocery” format in Bentonville.

On Day 1 of operation, smiles were a mile wide from the executive team who often noted that the pickup operation site located near the intersection of J Street and S. Walton Boulevard in Bentonville is an ongoing test and a learning lab that can only be a successful if customers use the facility and provide their feedback.

Judith McKenna, chief development officer at Wal-Mart, said during the grand opening ceremony Monday (Sept. 29) that to open a new store is “challenging enough, but to open a brand new format from the ground up is something really very special.” She said this test format has been a major collaboration between many different teams within Wal-Mart from real estate to innovations to e-commerce and logistics, grocery and technology. McKenna said the new format went from a concept sketched on paper in early 2013 to a fully functional operation 18 months later.

She said the “why” of Wal-Mart’s investment in this new format is to gain insights into the ever-changing needs and demands of consumers around the globe who are craving more options about when, where and how they shop.

“Choices, that’s what customers want today. … As one of the nation’s largest grocers and fastest growing e-commerce companies Wal-Mart is uniquely positioned to meet customers needs by bringing together our digital and physical expertise like no one else can do,” she added.

Mitch Levold, manager of the Walmart Pickup Grocery, reminded guests at the grand opening that the concept is now an ongoing beta test now expanded to the general public who takes the time to register online.

“We need and want all consumer feedback so that we can continue to refine the operations,” Levold said.

The 10,000 items in the mini warehouse are similar to the best selling products in a typical Neighborhood Market, according to Betsy Hardin, Wal-Mart spokeswoman. She said the item count and selection will be modified as needed to suit changing consumer demands.

Levold said he has received some valuable feedback. One demographic that appreciates the convenience are mothers with small children. Levold said Sunday he delivered an order to a shopper’s car who told him that this format has saved her an hour of time on her Sunday afternoon. Another shopper said she had wrestled with her toddler son to try and get his shoes on before they left for the store. Then she realized it didn’t matter if he wore shoes to the new grocery format because he would never get out of his car seat.

PERSONAL REVIEW
The City Wire registered online to try the new grocery buying experience. The registration was easy, requiring only an email address and password, home address and phone number – very similar to the registration for the Savings Catcher program or a typical online purchase.

Consumers may browse by grocery category, but we found using the search tool was the fastest way to find an item. Typing in a brand or product name such as “Tide w/Downy,” or “Great Value bottled water” brings up the items available. Shoppers then select the item and it goes into the electronic shopping cart keeping a tally of the total on the screen. Each product on the shopping list has the option for item substitution. The customer can opt in or out.

The shopping list entered by The City Wire included 5 items, all of which showed to be in-stock. The item substitution box was checked for each product.

During the online shopping trip The City Wire also checked prices and availability against a grocery receipt from the Bentonville Walmart Supercenter from the previous day (Sept. 28).

Items not found online, but purchased at the nearby supercenter included: Arizona tea mix singles, Propel drink mix singles in grape, large container of Great Value whipped cream topping, Beneful Dog Food in the Playful Life variety. The online site did have other varieties of Beneful Dog Food and Propel flavors other than grape. The Great Value whipped topping was available in the smaller size and Tide w/Downy was only available online in the larger size.

Other items available both in-store and online were priced identical; products like Jello instant pudding, Rotel tomatoes and Dole crushed pineapple.

Levold said Savings Catcher is not available for receipts from the online Pickup Grocery format, but it should be available in the future.

Once all items are in the cart, the user moves to the checkout and selects a pickup time from those available. Earlier times range from 2 hours up to three weeks. Levold said the hours of operation are seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

After the order is complete and credit card payment information is added, a confirmation is emailed immediately with the pick-up time and step-by-step directions. Users are also asked if they want to save the shopping list for future use.

The City Wire placed its order at 11:30 a.m. on Monday and selected a 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. pick-up time. Driving up to the kiosk at 1:50 p.m. the user enters their last name or their order number and they are then prompted to pull into one of the 19 waiting lanes.

By 1.56 p.m. an attendant by the name of Robert brought the order to the car. He explained there was one substitution in soft drink variety and gave us the opportunity to opt out. The diet Dr. Pepper order was substituted with the new Dr. Pepper 10 product at the same price.

He loaded the product order in the back hatch and once that was done he asked for a signature to run the credit card that was provided online. The delivery attendant also asked if we had a pet and he gave us a complimentary package of dog treats for trying the service and providing feedback. The entire drive-up process took around eight minutes to complete from the kiosk check-in time until the drive away.

ORDER ISSUE, RESPONSE
The City Wire purposely ordered fresh produce to see the quality the pickers would deliver. Two Gala Apples were in the order, the color was nice, but one of them had a small blemish that would not have met the buyer’s approval had they seen the product.

Levold said consumers may ask to see their fresh produce before they sign the ticket, and may refuse the item. Wal-Mart said produce has been one of the most ordered items in recent days. That’s no surprise to analysts who said people like to thump the cantaloupe or pick out their own tomatoes and if the produce and bakery items pass muster that’s a seal of approval in some circles.

In The City Wire order, the 24-count bottle water was omitted from the order, but charged to the customer. All the other products were there and met customer approval. The City Wire called the customer service line dedicated to grocery once it was discovered the water had been omitted from the order. The wait time on the phone was less than 3 seconds and a representative asked for the order number and item omitted. She apologized for the inconvenience and entered a credit back to the card for that item — $2.97. Wal-Mart said it could take up to 7 days for the credit return.

According to The City Wire’s trial run, the ease of use throughout the process from registering to shop to reporting an order mishap went smoothly and quickly on the new format’s first day of operation with the general public.

MATURE MARKET FEEDBACK
Stewart Samuel, analyst with IGD, told The City Wire that his firm talks to more than 1,000 shoppers each month about attitudes, motivators and barriers to food and grocery shopping online. The research is done in Great Britain, a market more advanced with online grocery buying than the U.S.

Looking at this data is perhaps one way to assess how U.S. demand could develop if the options were available.

McKenna was brought to the U.S. by Wal-Mart from the ASDA grocery business in the U.K. to head up the small format and online grocery innovations for the retailer’s massive grocery division, which is 55% of its U.S. sales. McKenna said pick-up depots are gaining in popularly across the Europe, home delivery has been around for quite a while.

Samuel said IGD’s research shows 18% of online grocery shoppers use home delivery and pick-up options. While the majority of those surveyed still prefer home delivery, the pick-up option is attracting more users with each quarter of the survey.

One in five online grocery shoppers in the U.K. use that service once a week or more. Another 20% said they shop online every two weeks, while 23% said they use it as a stock-up trip one time a month.

The major motivation behind using online shopping among those surveyed by IGD is the convenience factor, with 82% saying it’s easy and convenient, and 59% saying they shop online because its quicker.