Walmart is to introduce a pilot where those online shoppers opting to pick their goods up instore rather than home delivery will be offered a discount on ticket price of the goods. The pilot is to begin today (19th April).

President and CEO of Walmart eCommerce Marc Lore published a blog on the Walmart website saying that the new service, called Pickup Discount, will be available on around 10,000 SKUs that Walmart sells. By the end of June it is hoped that there will be 1 million SKUs available on the discount scheme.

Lore said that Pickup Discount builds on the “ethos behind Jet’s Smart Cart”. As previously reported by Apex Insight, Walmart bought the online retailer Jet.com last year and assimilated it into its e-commerce division. The Smart Cart system has developed a number of techniques for incentivising customers to pick more cost-effective shipping options.

In a statement published last week about the Pickup Discount launch, Mark Ibbotson, Executive Vice President of Central Operations – Walmart US – also highlighted some of the other recent enhancements to its Pickup service. These include:

– the “Pickup Today” same-day service; a feature in the app which allows customers to notify the store when they are on their way so items can be readied for their arrival;

– and the expansion of the “Pickup Tower” (a click and collect parcel locker which uses Cleveron technology) into more stores.

While home delivery is a must do for many retailers, the fact that it is often free or at a very low cost is a burden to them. Walmart’s move could improve their margins in this sector noticeably.  
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