Walmart in north Salisbury to add online grocery ordering, parking lot pickup

Food shopping in Salisbury is about to get easier when Walmart rolls out its online grocery ordering service at its North Pointe Drive location this spring.

The service will be available in Salisbury soon, but the exact date hasn't been determined yet, according to a company official.

Online grocery pickup is a free service that enables customers to order groceries online and pick them up at their local Walmart store without leaving their cars, a company spokeswoman stated in an email.

"Walmart's Online Grocery service is one of many ways Walmart is using technology to create a better shopping experience for its customers," she wrote.

Information about when it will be brought to other area Walmart stores was not immediately available.

Meanwhile, work is taking place at the north Salisbury store to get ready. A permit was issued recently for a reconfiguration of the parking lot to accommodate spaces for users of the new service, said Bill Holland, permits and inspections manager for the city.

Walmart's grocery pickup service features 40,000 items, with more than 90 percent of customers choosing to add fresh meat, dairy or produce to their baskets, according the the company. All items are the same price customers would find on the shelves.

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"Order fresh groceries online with same-day pickup. We'll even load your car," according to the company website.

Customers visit walmart.com/grocery online or through the Walmart Grocery mobile app, enter their ZIP codes to select a local store and begin creating their shopping lists. During checkout, they select a time to pick up their orders. Personal shoppers then select the items each customer requested.

Once a customer arrives at the pickup location, there will be reserved parking spaces, and a designated number to call to alert an associate. An associate will quickly retrieve the prepared order and load it into the customer's car.
 
On Monday, Walmart also rolled out new meal kits that will become available at 2,000 stores this year.

The meals will be available via the same online grocery pickup service. The meals at Walmart, available now in more than 250 stores, are made and assembled fresh in-store daily. On shelves in the deli, options include pre-portioned cooking kits, steak Dijon, basil garlic chicken, sweet chili chicken stir fry and pork Florentine.

Stores also will offer kits to accompany the grocers' rotisserie chicken, along with options that can be heated up and on the table in less than 15 minutes. 

Walmart's convenience meal options serve two people and range in price from $8 to $15.

In addition to the meal kits being launched in stores, Walmart.com offers an expanded assortment of meal delivery kits and other specialty food items like farm fresh crates and snack boxes. The offering launched late last year.

Twitter: @LizHolland5

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