New York: The online delivery wars are heating up inside shoppers' homes. Walmart is now offering to have one of its employees deliver fresh groceries and put them in your refrigerator when you're not home. The nation's largest grocer said Friday that it will be offering the service this fall for more than one million customers in three cities: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Missouri, and Vero Beach, Florida. Later this year, the service, called InHome Delivery, will also accept returns for items purchased on Walmart.com.
Two years ago, Walmart tested a similar service in the Silicon Valley area but teamed up with delivery startup Deliv and worked with August Home, makers of smart locks and smart home accessories. That test has since been stopped.
The new service is part of Walmart's drive to expand its shopping options that include curbside pickup and online grocery delivery. Amazon offers a similar service in certain cities, dropping off packages inside homes, garages or car trunks. But the service is not for groceries. With Walmart's new service, customers place a grocery delivery order online and then select InHome Delivery and a delivery day at checkout.
Walmart workers will use smart entry technology and a proprietary wearable camera to access the customer's home. That allows shoppers to control access into their home and give them the ability to watch the delivery remotely.
