Diet Dept: I recently tried Walmart Pickup at the recommendation of a friend and thought it would be informative for RAF listeners to talk a little about it. Here is my take on it.

Walmart Pickup is a service that allows customers to shop online, then pickup their orders at a nearby store. I tried this with the grocery version. You can do your shopping at Walmart’s online grocery site. I did this mostly with the app on my smart phone. The first time, I provided a credit card as a payment method, entered all my information, selecting a default store (as of this writing not all stores have the service). My store is a Neighborhood Market. The first thing you for each order is to select a pickup appointment time. Usually this requires planning a day in advance, but I found that if I got my order in early in the morning, I could usually get an appointment that day, sometimes evern before noon. Shopping is like any shopping experience, I searched for items I wanted and sometimes browsed categories for them, then added them to a cart. When I was done, I checked out and a receipt was emailed to me.

At the appointed time, I left for the store, checking in in the app before I left. The app is linked to GPS, so the associate knows I am on my way and can get ready. Parking is reserved right up front and in some locations you can bypass parking lot traffic altogether. The app prompted me to enter my vehicle color and parking space number. Shortly a friendly associate came out, had me sign a handheld device, then loaded the groceries according to my preference (back seat, trunk, etc.). I was generally in and out in about five minutes.

Obviously, this is a big time saver. There are a couple of detriments, however. The app has popup adds that ask you if you want an additional related item, for example, cookies if you ordered ice cream. You may or may not like this feature. Selection is still Walmart selection. Some brands you like may not be available. Things like fruits and vegetables, or even meat, lend themselves to an in-person examination prior to purchase, and you don’t get this in the app. Because of the appointment requirement, the service generally can’t be used for last-minute items. I wound up going to the grocery store at least once between pickups. And for me, the biggest disadvantage is that I don’t get as much exercise.

This is a big plus for Walmart, which has struggled getting to the twenty-first century and competing, in particular, with Amazon. Because of their large number of locations (Amazon only has the high-end Whole Foods locations), Walmart has a big advantage in this business.

So I no longer use Walmart Pickup because I want to be more active, but you can use the time you save to do more deliberate exercise as well!

Recorded November 29, 2018.

Weight (change since Jan 2018): 194 (-80)
Workout time: 0 Minutes
Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 8.97 Miles (275.95)
Steps: 5764
Muscle Mass (change since Aug 2018): 141 (-2)
Body Fat: 27.3%
2018 Goals: (1) Run 10.5 miles in one day by 11/18/18 (2) Lose 100lbs by 12/25/18
2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat