I Tried Walmart's Grocery Pickup and This Is What Happened (2024)

Back in October 2018, when this was first written, only a few Walmart Supercenters in Austin offered grocery order pickup. These days, every Walmart in the area does, making it easy to find a store. Just plug your ZIP code into the site's search window in the upper right and you'll be presented with a list of all stores nearby, based on distance.I selected my closest option and got set to shop. Note: Walmart requires a $30 minimum on all pickup orders.

The Walmart Grocery websitehas a clean, modern design that will be familiar to anyone who has used Walmart.com or SamsClub.com. Your cart occupies the right edge of the screen, with your subtotal clearly displayed in large blue type at the bottom. On the Walmart Grocery app, your total is displayed right beside the cart icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Desktop or mobile, the bulk of the page is devoted to browsing promotional items and staples such as milk, toilet paper, and produce. You can also shop for groceries by department or search for specific items, just as you would on Walmart's main site.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are usually front and center at the grocery store, so I started my shopping by perusing the produce. In general, selection is pretty good — you'll find everything from artichokes to yellow squash — but there are limits. For instance, I found gala, granny smith, Fuji, and honeycrisp apples, but not other common varieties such as golden delicious or McIntosh. (I opted for a 6-pound bag of organic honeycrisps.) In the meat department, I found plenty of fresh beef, pork, and chicken, but couldn't find lamb or veal, while fresh seafood was limited to salmon, trout, and tilapia. Dairy and staples such as cereal were plentiful. I didn't find all the ingredients for a fancy Julia Child recipeor my favorite brand of Icelandic skyr, but I had no trouble finding my go-to groceries for the week.

One of the reasons I quit using grocery-delivery services was that frozen items such as ice cream almost always ended up more cream than ice. (Did I mention how hot it can get in Austin?) So I added a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to my cart to find out whether frozen food would stay frozen. I also chose a bottle of red wine to see how Walmart would handle online liquor sales.

Shopping online at Walmart took longer than it probably would have if I'd just shopped at the store itself. Browsing took about an hour, but I'll attribute that mostly my not being familiar with the site. If I were a regular user, I could have added all of my favorites with one click, speeding up the processsignificantly.

A couple of hours after I placed my order, I realized that I'd scheduled my grocery pickup for the same time as my dog's appointment with her veterinarian. Although I could access my order from the confirmation email and make changes to my grocery list, there was no option for changing my scheduled pickup time. That's a small but significant drawback, in my opinion. (Fortunately, I have a forgiving vet.)

At 7:58 the next morning, I received a text from Walmart, letting me know my order was ready when I was. A few seconds later, a similar email popped into my inbox. All I had to do was check in before I left the house. That's as easy as a tap on the app, but if you don't have a smartphone, you need to call Walmart to let them know you're on your way. The app displayed a map with the Walmart Supercenter where I was going, but to my disappointment, I couldn't tap it and get driving directions the way I could if I were using Google Maps, for instance.

All of my groceries arrived in plastic grocery bags, except for a few bulky items such as seltzer and a whole salmon fillet. Everything I had ordered was in stock except some bagged greens, which were deducted from my order. Nothing appeared damaged, at first glance. The wine was swaddled in thick, padded kraft paper, the kiwis and bananas were firm and unblemished, the sweet potatoes solid, the clementines pristine. My cheese, yogurt, and almond milk all felt as though they had been refrigerated properly, but the ice cream had thawed to the consistency of somewhere between soft serve and milkshake.

The corn on the cob had clearly seen better days, the husks dried and tips withered, but once I'd peeled and trimmed the ends, it was surprisingly good for out-of-season corn. The honeycrisp apples were the only true disappointment. Most of the puny apples in the 6-pound bag were bruised to the point of being unappetizing, though still quite edible. This is the main reason I never buy bagged apples from any grocery store: They're frequently second-quality, small, and inevitably damaged in the journey from farm to store. I could have called Walmart to receive a refund, but frankly, it wasn't worth the bother for such a minor purchase. Had it been an expensive item like the pound of salmon or bottle of wine, you can bet I would have called customer service, though.

Would I use Walmart's grocery pickup service again? I'll give it a qualified yes. For picky shoppers like me, the convenience is outweighed by the pleasure of choosing groceries myself, especially fresh produce. And I work from home, so I can shop pretty much whenever I feel like it. But if I were a busy parent juggling the daily commute, after-school activities, and daily errands, or someone with a disability that makes shopping difficult, there's no question that a service like this could come in handy. Worth noting: Walmart Grocery employees aren't allowed to accept tips, but you can pay it forward by leaving them positive feedback during the optional online review process.