WASHINGTON — Walmart is rolling out in-store Pickup Towers for online orders, and the Walmart in Arbutus, Maryland in Baltimore County is one of the first stores on to get one.
“The Pickup Tower is a great example of how we’re testing new technology and letting our customers and associates tell us what works best,” said John Calloway, Jr., Walmart’s regional eCommerce coach.
“We’re excited by the response to the Pickup Tower and look forward to expanding it to serve more customers.”
The 16-foot tall towers work like an enormous vending machine and are placed near Walmart store entrances, eliminating the need for customers who make online purchases for in-store pickup to find an employee and wait for their purchase to be retrieved.
Instead, a customer scans a bar code that is sent to his smartphones after his online purchase is complete, and the machine retrieves and delivers the purchase within one minute.
The first Pickup Tower was installed in a Walmart store in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart’s hometown, last year.
There are now 15 towers in stores across several cities, including Tulsa, Atlanta, Dallas and Detroit.
Walmart said it will continue to roll out Pickup Towers at other stores, and use customer feedback to determine future expansion.
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