Written by Toyin Umesiri (Feb 2015)
In the fall of 2014, my husband was at a Walmart gas station, when he watched an animated video explaining the Walmart Grocery services. Upon getting home he told me about it and he said "honey, I really think this service was made for busy people like you!” What he said that day stayed with me. From time to time he would also remind me and encourage me to try it that he believed I would like the services as depicted in the animation.
You see, I'm always looking for new ways to streamline and enjoy family life. Having worked in the technology space for several years, I have also transferred my “techy” side into my personal life especially in the kitchen. In fact, whenever I watch commercial of any product or service that promises to save me time or money, I'm a sucker for such. My kitchen is filled with all kinds of gadgets bought with the hope that they would somehow make me a master chef. Some of those have worked quite well, and others are still buried either in their original box or deep in my pantry for lack of use.
Based on prompting from my husband I gave the service a try. The first time that I placed the order I totally forgot to pick it up. On getting home I asked my husband to help since he was heading that way later in the day. I sent him an email with the order number and instructions. When my husband came back home with the items, what he said surprised me. He said “that was easy! We should do this again”.
My husband was right from the very beginning. Not only did I get to like it but I have come to love it. Here are 5 reasons that Walmart Grocery Pickup is now a part of my family routine & lifestyle.
Kid friendly - I have two boys, ages 4yrs & 10 months old. As you can imagine, this is a stage where taking them into a store for grocery shopping is not the most fun. That is why I and my husband take turns and work around each other’s schedule to plan on whom would stay with the kids while the other goes to the store. With Walmart Grocery pickup, I can have my kids with me in the car and that’s it. The Associates help us load our items and they are extremely polite.
Husband friendly – My husband does not like shopping for anything! He does it to support his family. Prior to Walmart pickup, during the week I would often text him with my list of grocery items that I needed his help with. I’ve always known that he would rather be doing something else other than shop so you can only imagine what a relief this is to him.
Time friendly –. My husband and I have demanding jobs. He is a University Professor and an author. So any time not spent in a store is time we could spend doing something else. For him, it could be grading student papers, preparing for his classes/lab or channeling his creative side into a book. With Walmart Grocery pickup it now takes me less than 2 minutes to complete a full order. In fact when I use the “Add items from your previous orders” feature it takes me seconds to complete my orders. We have now taken time saved and are investing it by spending more time with each other and on things we love doing.
Healthy living focus – A few years ago, I introduced “Juicing” and making smoothies into my family’s diet. It has been challenging maintaining a fresh supply of fruits and vegetables; so I have not been as consistent as I wanted to. With Walmart Grocery pickup, I now have zero room for excuse since I can now order at anytime during the week to restock my supply of fresh berries, fruits and vegetables and feed my family well balanced meals.
Pretty Cool - From a technology perspective, Walmart Grocery Pickup has successfully merged the digital-physical experience for the customer. The first time I used the online site I thought to myself that the website was so well designed and very “sleek”. Take this from someone that considers user experience when deploying new technology. The only additional feature I’ve thought of would be a way to introduce visualization. Would be amazing if I could have an experience that simulates a walkthrough my local grocery store.
To the Walmart Grocery Pickup team I would like to say thank you for investing time in making this a reality. I can say that this has improved the quality of my life and that of my family. I hope the word spreads and many more families across the world benefit from this awesome service!
