I Stopped Going in Walmart 6 Months Ago & This Is Why
Have you ever used Walmart Grocery Pickup? Here is a how-to and review of Walmart Grocery Pickup if your a newbie!
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You either completely love Walmart, or you despise it. There is really no gray area. And I am really black and white on most things, but this? There is gray area for me in my love/hate relationship of Walmart.
I mean you gotta love a store where you can go get cleaning supplies, toiletries, groceries, a quick outfit, and tires for the car in one stop. The store literally has everything. And the one by me has a pretty decent and affordable produce section, so then there’s that.
But then you have the long lines, never-ending short staff, and the less than quality service in most cases.
The Walmart by my home actually has pretty regular employees there, they have made a career of Walmart, are good with it, and so they are not grumpy all the damn time. So when we moved here, I was more than okay with shopping at Walmart. And with my number one grocery store, Aldi practically in the parking lot, to be able to knock them both out in one swoop made my life so easy.
But then it started being a gamble on how long I would be in line when Iw ould go. And there seemed like I really just didn’t have the time to do things like grocery shop lately. So I would find myself trying to piece meals together scrapping the cupboards, or running to the store real quick to grab a thing or two to cook.
And then I discovered Walmart Grocery Pickup, and life was forever changed!
I told you guys that my shopping strategy is Aldi everything I can, and Walmart everything I couldn’t.Now that Aldi has home delivery and Walmart pickup (and delivery too) I have not been in a grocery store in months.
All Your Questions Answered About Walmart Grocery Pickup + An Honest Review
What is It and How Does It Work?
Walmart Grocery Pickup is an online service that allows you to order groceries online, drive to your local Walmart and pick up the items without turning off, or even leaving your car.
Even beyond groceries, it allows you to order a lot of the other things you have to regularly shop for like toiletries, household items, and more! I order things like lotion, paper towels, paper plates, and even face wash. Shoot I think I added hair oil one day too. Basically, I am getting all. Of. the. Things!
…from my car people!
This makes me happy just typing it.
How Do You Order Using Walmart Pickup?
Ordering works just like any online ordering you do:
- Create an account
- Search items and put in cart
- Checkout
Literally 1-2-3. And once you save stuff to your favorites it is even quicker…
After signing in, you select from a store in your area and an available pickup time slot in one-hour increments. For me, the one that is closest to my house usually doesn’t have any same day pick up slots, so occasionally I drive a little further to go to another store if I need same day.
While you can order online on the website or the app, if you order online you want to make sure you download and sign into the app so you can check in. Once you hit the check-in button, if you enable GPS, it determines when you pull in the parking lot.
It’s a pretty seamless process.
The Pickup Process
Once you arrive at your Walmart store you follow the orange signs to the designated grocery pickup area. Normally on the side or back of the building.
You pull into the parking spot and then the app will recognize that you are there if you enabled GPS. If you did not enable GPS, you can mark that you have arrived.
When you arrive it will ask you to input the color of your car and the parking space number you are pulled into. The app then alerts the associates inside the store that you are there and they come out to load you up after confirming your order.
In the earlier days of the program, you were required to call the number on the parking space placard and let them know you have arrived.
I like this new way much better. Typically your shopper comes out to the car within a minute or two.
If there were any unavailable items or replacements, they go over that with you on their handheld device, and once you approve they ask you to sign for your order.
In the event you don’t want the replacements, they will remove them from your order and then update it before you sign.
The payment is pre-approved when you order, kinda like how it happens at the gas station when you use a card, and then it is not finalized and processed until you actually pick up.
What If I am picky about my produce?
I will tell you I am not one of those super picky people about my produce. As long as it looks good and isn’t spoiled, moldy, or all out rotten, I am good. However, if you ARE picky Walmart has a freshness guarantee where you only have to bring in your receipt for a full refund.
Also keep in mind, that things that are sold by weight will be an estimate when you order. Your shopper will try to get as close as possible to what you selected and the amount will be reflected in your final order.
Are There Any Ordering Tricks Or Special Things I Should Know?
Save Favorites. This makes future shops a breeze. You can “heart” the items you frequent and the app will put them in the “your items” section.
Plan ahead. My store hardly ever has same day appointments since it has gotten more popular. So try to plan to order at least a day ahead.
All Walmarts are not created equal. The Walmart by my house aggravates me sometimes, and most recently the service was not amazing. So I sometimes schedule the one on the way to my son's school because the people are always super friendly and organized.
My Honest Review of Walmart Grocery Pickup + Is Using Walmart To Order Groceries Really Worth It?
My answer is a resounding YES!
Walmart grocery pickup saves me time and it saves me money. The fact that I can’t randomly end up with stuff in my cart from strolling the aisles is the best part. It has done wonders for the budget and keeping down unneeded random things.
Most grocery items and non-grocery items are available for online ordering and that makes me happy. I don’t have to worry about normal household items either like soap, toothpaste and paper towels.
I have on occasion had a person who was lacking personality, but it happens. The biggest thing to me is that my order is right and if that is good. I am good.
The shoppers are not allowed to take tips, which is kinda weird to me. I mean nowadays you tip for everything, I’d gladly tip for a person to save me from shopping for groceries.
With things like the guarantee on produce and the amount of variety offered, it is honestly more than worth it. You really have nothing to lose. If you are looking at this review to determine if it is worth your time, energy, effort, money or whatever, my answer is yes!
Are There Any Special Discounts or Promo Codes To Use for Walmart Grocery Pickup?
I am glad you asked! I do have a promo code for you! If you click this link here, you can save 10 bucks on your first Walmart grocery order. And as a special thank you, Walmart gives me $10 dollars off too. We all win!!!
And the best part is that you can continue saving if you refer your friends too cause you will get your very own referral link to share. And in the very true words from uncle snoop (Snoop Dogg), “Ain’t no fun if the homies can’t have none?”
You May Also Enjoy:
- How To Maximize Savings {and time} On Weekly Grocery Shopping
- The Essentials For A Well-Stocked Pantry
If you order frozen items such as ice cream, is it melted when it gets to your car? Do some stores do better than others on ice cream?
you know what? I normally go get my own ice cream. But the one time I did it was okay. The but your refrigerated items in the fridge area until time to pick up so it should be good for you! It’s been so hot lately, I need ice cream in every order really…LOL
Great article, I am convinced. But in July 2020, I’m one who doesn’t wear a mask due to a medical condition, and am wondering if a need to where a mask comes into play at any time during delivery or pickup.
Hey Zack! I think its personal preference, I always wear a mask but you have to do what works for you. With delivery, you have the option for your person to leave your items at your door also and then you can go grab them once they leave. I have done this too!
Depends how picky you are about getting exact product substitutions. It is very convenient and easy to use Wal-Mart app, but my first time using app was misleading. Ordered organic chicken breasts and the shopper subbed thighs instead!? Ordered healthy wheat cereal and it was subbed with high sugar corn cereal instead. Always check sub list before pick up. I didn’t know you can check subs ahead of time. If you’re needing exact ingredients probably better to do own shopping. The associates aren’t likely to think about substituting based on healthy equivalent but rather just the brand.
Hey Kim!
you can also opt for certain options to not allow substitutions. so if they don’t have it they won’t even try.
I had my first Walmart grocery delivery today and it was such a great experience. I always knew they did pickup but I had no idea they did grocery delivery until this week! I don’t have a car so I use the bus for grocery shopping. And being 50, my back isn’t what it used to be anymore so carrying all those groceries a mile from the bus stop to my home isn’t any fun. And since I can’t carry it all at once, it has to be multiple grocery trips each month which is not fun either!
I also have a parrot that I won’t to give tap water to because God knows what’s in it, so i’d rent a car once every couple of months to load up on gallons of water since carrying that is out of the question. Anyway, now I can get all my gallons of water, my entire month of groceries delivered right to my door and ditch the bus, stop breaking my back, and save on car renting. This is a Godsend for me!
And the $7.95 delivery fee is extremely cheap considering the savings i’m getting on bus fare, renting a car and gas. The delivery price varies according to delivery time you choose, but I always manage to pick a $7.95 window for delivery. I also use the savings to tip the delivery person well too. I give $10 tip because these are apparently outside Uber drivers that Walmart contacts to come pick up and deliver the groceries.
I make sure they get cash too because who knows if they receive the whole thing through the app tipping. Today was my first delivery and everything I ordered came without issue.
Those 12 gallons of water brought right to my door was so appreciated on my back as well as canned foods!! I ordered a couple of frozen things and they arrived in perfect frozen condition. I saw the driver had a cooler he stored the bag inside for the transport which I appreciated. Keep in mind, they do make substitutes if they’re out of stock of an item in your list.
They let you know before they deliver it so you can make any needed adjustments yourself. For example, I ordered a 21 oz jar of olives and they changed it to a smaller size because they were out of it. I didn’t mind the change so left the it. They also auto adjust the price as well. On a positive change, they were out of their store brand of mashed potatoes, and substituted for the same price a better name brand. So sometimes, you can get lucky too!!
I will now always use this service and only trek to the grocery store for veggies because I prefer choosing that myself. But for everything else, this is such a time saver, money saver and back saver for me!! I hope they always have this service and will use it all the time. Oh, they also have a $12.95 monthly subscription for unlimited free delivery. I’ll wait a few months to see what my pattern is and if it’s worth it to try. I think it may be worth it if I want any last minute things, something I forgot, or say I have a sudden craving for ice cream one day and I can just open the laptop and order it for same day delivery! 🙂
Happy New Year Christopher!
I am so happy to hear that you had a positive experience and that it is helping you in so many ways. I haven’t done Walmart deliver but I do use it for aldi and it has been a huge time saver for me.