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| Soaring gas prices might help Wal-Mart's home deliveries |
From the Associated Press
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Saturday that it is testing home grocery delivery in San Jose, Calif., as the world's largest retailer ratchets up competition with online retailer Amazon.com Inc.
With the new "Walmart To Go," customers can order up groceries, health and beauty products such as soap, shampoo and over-the-counter medicines, and household supplies like paper towels and laundry detergent from the company's website. Wal-Mart will then drive the goods over to customers' homes at their time of choice.
Wal-Mart said that the San Jose launch is a limited test only. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company didn't provide details on other possible test markets. But its website already has a section on which interested customers can learn about the service and enter their zipcodes to see if it's available in their area.
If it was to go nationwide, the move may help Wal-Mart wrestle market share away from Amazon.com Inc. That retailer launched its U.S. grocery delivery service in 2007 and has since expanded to Germany and Britain.
Grocers like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and HEB don't have to resort to delivery. Another idea that's worth looking into is curbside, or drive-thru service.
ReplyDeleteA customer could place his/her order online and then pick it up in about 30 minutes, either by going in to the store to retrieve the items or having a window where the groceries will be ready.
Of course, a limit on the number of items would have to be in place.
If Pizza Hut and Johnny Carinos can do it, why can't HEB?
I do go to HEB so yes this would be good. As for the present, they still don't always open as many registers as they should. I have noticed that if you ask, they usually do open another one however. If they want to save on checkers, then they should take order maybe by a certain hour and have them ready by pickup, also after a designated hour.
ReplyDeleteIf only someone opened up a milk, eggs & bread run... with half-clothed men who would lose their humanity and just be the objects for lust from middle-aged women...
ReplyDelete