Walmart Grocery Pickup Service: How It Works with Free $10 To Spend

Interested in finding out more about the Walmart Grocery Pickup service? I did it and so I want to tell you how it works.  But first it’s important to let you know that this is an independent review by a busy mom.  I wasn’t asked by Walmart to share this with you nor am I receiving any reimbursement for my review.  This is all just me sharing with you my experience and honest assessment as a busy mom of 6.

Now…let me state…this is awesome! I personally hate going into Walmart. It takes forever, it’s stressful, it’s busy, and it’s just annoying!

I always do my grocery shopping at our local Kroger affiliate store because it is far more convenient for me as a busy mom to six kiddos and not so overwhelming.

But even this is a hassle. The kids do not like grocery shopping at all. I understand that it is hard to walk around, wait for mom, walk a bit more, wait patiently, walk even more, wait patiently, walk, etc. I can tell you from experience that a 10-month old, 4-year old and 6-year old are not cut out for this! 🙂

So, when my mom told me that our local Walmart is doing grocery pick-up service…I was super intrigued! In fact, she did it first to give it a try, even though she doesn’t have kids at home. She’s a busy grandma and teacher and she was raving about how awesome, convenient, time-saving, money-saving, sanity-saving it was for HER, so imagine how much moms with young children at home will benefit!?!

After her successful trial run, I then gave it a try! (If you want to try it, you can register HERE for a FREE $10 to spend! YAY for FREE Groceries!)

Let me tell you….this really is the best thing since sliced bread….

No joke! It was AWESOME! I cannot rave enough about this option.

Here’s how it worked. I went online and ordered the groceries we regularly buy. For us, it is our milk (milk substitute in the form of Almond Milk) and fresh produce. Between our pantry staples purchased in bulk and our meats purchased in bulk, we pretty much just purchase this short list of fresh items each week. However, I was pleased to see that the entire store (except some electronics and most all clothing) is available on the Walmart Grocery Pickup site.

On this “test trip,” I needed heavy duty painters tape for a DIY project I am working on in addition to my groceries. It was on the site for me to order! How convenient!

In addition, (I didn’t order these, but took a screenshot from the Walmart Grocery site to show you) you can search for most anything on your list and you probably can find it…..

From games and toys,

to bath towels,

to almost anything for baby from diapers to sippy cups,

to household items like organization and cleaning,

to some electronic items,

to school supplies,

Most all of it is on this new Walmart Grocery site to add to your cart! No need to run in!

So as I mentioned above, the bulk of my order was those fresh items with a handful of non-grocery items. The one thing that both of us were concerned, or not sure about, was the fresh produce. Since most of our online cart for pick-up included produce by the pound, we just weren’t sure how it was going to work.

Well, I must say, we were more than impressed. If we wanted 2 lbs, of bananas, we were charged for 2 lbs. exactly, but when we weighed them on our food scale at home, they were a little over 2 lbs. Same went for every “per pound” produce item! So they did not undercut us at all!

In addition, I bought bok choy, and they were the biggest, fluffiest, freshest looking bok choy I had every purchased (I didn’t snap a picture, but one was the equivalent of 3!) and so they really were very intentional and very considerate when picking out our produce. For that, I am super thankful because we are very picky about the quality, look and type of produce we choose when we grocery shop.

When it was time for me to pick-up my order, it was so VERY simple. There are signs directing you to the side of the store you need to park when you enter the parking lot. Then, once you arrive in the designated parking spots, they have signs with the phone number to call the number and they will bring your order out. In fact, you never have to get out of your vehicle!

I called them, they said they would be right out…and they were.

I popped my trunk and the incredibly sweet, nice and helpful associate (Dillon) loaded my car with care, ease and kindness. I even tried to get out and he said, “Please, feel free to stay there and let me take care of all of this!”

I did not have one complaint throughout the whole experience. In fact, I was treated like a queen. I had my six kids in the car and we just rocked out to kids’ tunes and enjoyed the 5-minute stop!

Dillion even handed me a gift bag of goodies just for trying out the service.

This is what Dillon gave me as a welcome gift when I picked up my first order! 

And I also received this nice gift box in the mail at my doorstep just for registering! I received this even before I placed my first order!

This is the gift box we received in the mail after we registered, we registered about 3-weeks before we made our first order. 

I will tell you what….Walmart has a new grocery pickup customer. I will be taking advantage of this probably every week from now on! This new service is a total game-changer in the world of grocery shopping for moms everywhere! 

And not just moms….but dads, grandmas, singles, couples, everyone! Dillon told me that they have been super busy with this new pick-up service and although it’s the moms that are the most in love with this service, they get everyone coming through the pickup to not have to go into the store at all!

In fact, not only was I able to get the same in-store prices, but I know I saved money by staying out of the store. I got exactly what was on my list…nothing more! For most of us (especially when shopping with kids) this alone will drop the grocery budget!

There are so many positives to this whole experience and idea, but I did want to mention a couple of drawbacks as well:

1. They advertise same-day pickup, but every time (no matter day or night) I load my online cart and then go to select my pick-up window (2 hour window), it’s always for the next day and beyond. I am not sure if this is still something they are working out, or what, but I am just planning my shopping at least a day in advance.
2. They do have a minimum order amount. So it’s not like I can order “just a roll of tape” like what I just needed during the holiday season, you can’t. But the minimum is only $30, which most of us end up spending in the first few minutes we walk into the store, so this forces you to be more intentional about how you spend your money.
3. This is only offered at a handful of Walmart locations nationwide as “pilot” stores (we happen to be one).  However the popularity of this program is through the roof and we have heard that it will be expanding pretty rapidly nationwide.
4. Currently, there is not a way for you to use coupons. However, you can claim a free $10 to spend when you shop! That’s better than coupons! Also, we rarely buy processed foods anyway, so we don’t use many coupons, but we did email them about this and although they do not accept them now, they said they will consider this feedback and figure out a way to begin accepting additional discounts in the future. So it could be coming soon!
5. You can currently browse all grocery, baby and pet items, but all of the extras I mentioned above have to be “searched” for (which can then still be added to your order). They are not on the site just for browsing and adding in a simple way. I am not sure if Walmart plans to slowly incorporate the whole store in this user-friendly browsing-like fashion, but again, this forces you to be more intentional about just buying what’s on your list!

Here’s the current categories you can browse and shop from, and then search for everything else! 

Even considering those drawbacks, Walmart is obviously filling a great need in our day and age and it was awesome to experience, feel spoiled, save sanity, save time and save money all at the same time! I am hooked and hooked for life!

Thank you Walmart for doing this!  Now if I can just convince Kroger and sister stores to do this too, I would be one super, happy camper!

The good news doesn’t end here….

If you register for at the new Walmart Grocery site HERE (different from Walmart.com) you can claim a free $10 to spend on your next purchase for trying out the grocery pick-up service. The locations are expanding everyday so whether yours is open now or soon, you can save $10 off Walmart’s everyday low prices!

Be sure to share your link with your friends and both of you get $10 to spend after they make their first Walmart Grocery Pick Up order!

What do you think about this? Would you try it? Are you excited about it? Have you tried it?