Walmart Tests Grocery ATM Again

Walmart is expanding its automated grocery kiosk pilot from its first grocery ATM test in Oklahoma last year to a second version of the concept, at a Walmart supercenter in Sherman, TX.

The kiosks allow customers to pick up online grocery orders within seconds, without help from an associate. Shoppers place and pay for groceries online, then Walmart employees pick and pack their orders and store them in bins in the 11-foot-by-127-foot kiosk, which is attached to the Sherman store, reports Business Insider (BI). The kiosk has refrigerators and freezers inside that keep the groceries fresh. Customers walk up to the kiosk and scan a barcode located on the "order ready" email from Walmart. Their groceries will appear within one minute, bagged and ready to load into their cars.

"Not only do customers not have to wait for an associate to bring them their order, but they also never need to set foot inside the store," a Walmart spokesperson told BI. "The whole process can take less than a minute and we'll be adding more pickup times soon to allow customers to pickup their orders anytime … day or night."

The latest version of the Walmart grocery ATM can serve five customers simultaneously, while the first could serve only two customers.