Walmart Launches Pickup Vending Machines For Online Orders
Walmart just made it even easier to grab products ordered online. Pickup Towers, much like vending machines, allow customers to get the goods they purchased online in-store, Chain Store Age reports.
Walmart is expanding its deployment of the self-service kiosks since it debuted in Bentonville, Arkansas, last fall.
"Much like a high-tech vending machine for your online orders, this feature .. allows you to pick up items in less than a minute by scanning a bar code sent to your smartphone. The pilot phase has been so successful we’re expanding it to other locations across the country,” Walmart Executive Vice President Mark Ibbotson said on the company’s blog.
The retail giant is also testing a similar kiosk concept for groceries ordered online by installing a 20 foot by 80 foot refrigerated kiosk in a Walmart parking lot in Warr Acres, Oklahoma.
The world's largest retailer is not the first to try this concept. E-commerce behemoth Amazon launched a similar concept, called Amazon Lockers, a few years back, allowing shoppers to pick up their merchandise from its package lockers in convenience stores and other safe zones. It also debuted its AmazonFresh Pickup in March, which allows customers to order groceries online and pick them up at an Amazon store within 15 minutes of purchase.
