Walmart Hopes To Win Over Millennials With This Giant Orange Vending Machine

IMAGE COURTESY OF (KFSM 5 NEWS)

November 11, 201610:54 am ESTBy Ashlee Kieler

ANOTHER PICKUP OPTIONWALMART PICKUP VENDING MACHINE STORE PICKUP ONLINE ORDERS CONVENIENCE RETAIL BIG BOX STORE

For years now, Amazon has allowed customers to pickup their orders at bright yellow lockers located at convenience stores and other easy to access areas. Now, in what appears to be another attempt to be more like the e-commerce giant, Walmart has a vending machine where online customers can pickup their orders, you know without having to wait in line or talk to other people. 

A Walmart store in the company’s Arkansas hometown of Bentonville is home to an enormous, nearly floor-to-ceiling machine that uses ATM-like technology to let customers pick up orders they placed online. The hope appears to be that the lack of a long line — along with not having to deal with store staff — may be attractive to younger shoppers who want convenience.

For now, customers can only place orders for general merchandise online and pick them up at the machine.

Once an order is received by the store, an employee is notified and retrieves the products. The items are then wrapped or boxed and placed inside the machine. As soon as the order has been processed, the customer will be notified and an employee will assist them in obtaining their order. In the future, the company hopes that customers will be able to use the machines without employee assistance.

“These new units are part of our overall work to simplify our jobs and make it easier for associates to serve customers,” a Walmart spokesperson tells Consumerist.

So far, the Bentonville store’s manager tells KFSM 5 News that the machine has been a hit, with in-store pickups jumping from one to two orders per day to 15 to 20.

“It helps the customer, in and out,” the manager tells KFSM 5 News. “It’s very time saving, and it doesn’t keep your associates locked down so they can help in other spots.”

The Walmart spokesperson tells Consumerist that the company has been testing several different ideas from lockers to where the varied pickup points in store and automated kiosks like the vending machine. The company is currently gathering feedback on the machines to determine if the machines should be expanded to other stores.

“Our free Pickup service is a popular way for people to save time and money,” the spokesperson said. “We know speed and convenience are important to our customers and we’re always looking for new ways to bring it to them.”