Sponsored By

Walmart helps customers buy online in-store

New service lets store associates place Walmart.com orders

Russell Redman

December 5, 2018

3 Min Read
Supermarket News logo in a gray background | Supermarket News

Bolstering its omnichannel capabilities, Walmart is leveraging its huge store workforce to facilitate e-commerce purchases.

Through a new service called the Dotcom Store, shoppers can ask Walmart store associates to place a Walmart.com order for them via an app on their handheld touchscreen device.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant said the Dotcom Store service is now offered in almost all 4,700 Walmart stores (except in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) and will be available year-round. Customers can order items sold and shipped by Walmart online, choose store pickup or home delivery, and pay with cash, check, credit/debit or Walmart Pay.

“The Dotcom Store offers customers even more assortment options than what’s on our physical shelves, whether that be different sizes, colors or varieties,” Tom Ward, senior vice president of digital and central operations for Walmart U.S., said in a statement. “As busy families come to our stores to prepare for the holidays, they can feel confident that our associates will get them everything they need and quickly, whether it’s an item they can find on our store shelves or online.”

Walmart noted that the service improves the in-store shopping experience. When customers can’t find a certain product in the store, can’t locate the right size or color, or discover that an item is out of stock or unavailable in stores, they just need to hail a Walmart associate. That associate then uses the Dotcom Store app on his or her mobile device to look up the desired item and then place the order for the customer, who receives a printed ticket or email/text with a barcode that lets them to pay at any register in-store. The shipment process gets under way after the customer pays for the item to complete the transaction.

Related:Walmart tests on-the-spot checkout service

“You can find a ton of items in a Walmart store. But sometimes you’re on the hunt for something incredibly specific. Like a Wonder Woman coffeemaker. Or a shade of lipstick to match a brand-new dress. Wouldn’t it be magical if that item was secured for you to order instantly in store, and you leave, having marked it off your list?” Walmart said in a blog post on the Dotcom Store launch. “We think so, and that’s why we’ve introduced a new in-store app that gives our store associates the power of Walmart.com right at their fingertips.”

Walmart said that “in the near future” it plans to add marketplace items sold on Walmart.com to the products that can be purchased through the Dotcom Store app.

The service furthers Walmart’s efforts to bring its “endless online aisle of merchandise” to its physical stores, allow customers to choose how they want to pay and complete purchases in a seamless transaction, the company added.

For example, in April, Walmart began piloting Check Out With Me, a service that provides on-the-spot customer checkout. In the Lawn & Garden Centers of more than 350 stores, the retailer equipped associates with cellular devices and Bluetooth printers. When shoppers are ready to pay, an associate scans their items with the Check Out With Me mobile device, swipes their payment card, and provides a printed or digital receipt.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

Stay up-to-date on the latest food retail news and trends
Subscribe to free eNewsletters from Supermarket News

You May Also Like