WEBVTT - Why Walmart is Installing Giant Vending Machines

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<v Speaker 1>Trying out Walmart's giant new in store vending machines. What's

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<v Speaker 1>going on. I'm rich Demiro. This is Rich on tech.

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<v Speaker 1>Walmart is going to war against Amazon. They're testing out

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<v Speaker 1>new technologies to make it easier for you to get

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<v Speaker 1>your stuff no matter how you want to shop, whether

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<v Speaker 1>it's in store, online, or a combination of both. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>this is going to be especially crucial because Amazon is

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<v Speaker 1>integrating their whole foods purchase into its operations more and more,

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<v Speaker 1>using them as a place to pick up orders, drop

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<v Speaker 1>off returns, sell Amazon Stuff service, grocery pickup and delivery hubs,

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<v Speaker 1>and much more. Basically, these two companies have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>at stake. So one of the things that Walmart is

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<v Speaker 1>doing is something called a pickup tower. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen foot tall giant vending machine that they're installing in

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<v Speaker 1>stores nationwide. They tested the technology in two hundred stores.

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<v Speaker 1>Apparently customers love them. Now they're expanding the technology to

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<v Speaker 1>an additional five hundred stores by the end of the year. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>they just install one in Lancaster, California. So I headed

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<v Speaker 1>there to check it out, and it is massive. You

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<v Speaker 1>can't miss it. It's right near the front door when

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<v Speaker 1>you walk in. Here's Walmart's Tiffany Wilson.

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<v Speaker 2>Pickup tower is essentially a sixteen foot tall vending machine

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<v Speaker 2>that we have in our stores. You pick an item

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<v Speaker 2>or a number of items on walmart dot com. You

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<v Speaker 2>have millions of items to choose from, and when your

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<v Speaker 2>item is available, you get an email notification with a

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<v Speaker 2>bar code. You walk up and scan that bar code,

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<v Speaker 2>and your item is vended to you. So it's a

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<v Speaker 2>very easy, fast, convenient way to shop and pick up

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<v Speaker 2>your items in store, so you can get in, get out,

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<v Speaker 2>get what you need, and move on with your day.

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<v Speaker 1>So basically, you order something online, you choose in store, pickup,

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<v Speaker 1>and associate in the store grabs your item or items.

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<v Speaker 1>They load it into the machine, and then you can

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<v Speaker 1>come back and pick it up at your leisure. Apparently

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<v Speaker 1>they hold your item for seven days. The machine is

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<v Speaker 1>really fast at retrieving your items, so you don't need

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<v Speaker 1>to talk to anyone or wait in any sort of

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<v Speaker 1>line unless there's someone else picking up an item before you.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I've done online pickup at Target and Best Buy,

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<v Speaker 1>and basically the process is kind of the same, but

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<v Speaker 1>minus the humans.

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<v Speaker 2>Other processes include coming through the store and picking all

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<v Speaker 2>those items yourself. You could also use pickup today, which

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<v Speaker 2>involves going to a calendar and standing in line and

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<v Speaker 2>picking up your item. So this is just another option,

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<v Speaker 2>giving customers another option of shopping, whether they like to

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<v Speaker 2>shop online, in store, or a combination of the two.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just another fresh way to shop and it's easy,

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<v Speaker 2>it's fast, and it's fun.

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<v Speaker 1>Now you might be thinking, well, can't Amazon deliver to

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<v Speaker 1>my house in an hour? Well, yeah, that's great if

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<v Speaker 1>you live in an area that offers that I happen to,

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<v Speaker 1>and yes, it is great. But I can see how

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<v Speaker 1>this has appueled nationwide and in every single little town

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<v Speaker 1>that Walmart operates a store in. You order something online

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<v Speaker 1>at work and you pick it up on your way home.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a fast and easy process.

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<v Speaker 2>It's great for busy families. It's great for folks who

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<v Speaker 2>don't have a lot of time in their day, don't

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<v Speaker 2>have time to shop, so you let someone else essentially

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<v Speaker 2>do the shopping for you, and all you have to

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<v Speaker 2>do is just pick it up.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no additional fee for the service. Now, if there

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<v Speaker 1>was one, that would really be bad, because I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think it would be very popular and as for time,

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<v Speaker 1>Walmart's website says your online order should be ready for

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<v Speaker 1>pick up within four hours. Now. I haven't tested the

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<v Speaker 1>service from start to finish by placing a real online order,

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<v Speaker 1>but I imagine that they work in a buffer here and

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<v Speaker 1>often orders might be ready faster than that. They will

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<v Speaker 1>text you or email you when your order's ready. But

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<v Speaker 1>I can also see how this service will be slammed

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<v Speaker 1>during the holidays. So what about that all important jword jobs.

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<v Speaker 1>The pickup tower itself is automated, but you do need

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<v Speaker 1>some folks to load it up.

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<v Speaker 2>We've seen new jobs created because of the pickup towers,

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<v Speaker 2>because of online grocery pickup and all the different new

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<v Speaker 2>technologies that we have in store. So we're retraining our associates,

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<v Speaker 2>we're bringing on new associates for these particular jobs. So

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<v Speaker 2>we're saying really good growth.

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<v Speaker 1>One more Walmart program I checked out online grocery ordering pickup.

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<v Speaker 1>One more Walmart program I checked out is online grocery

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<v Speaker 1>ordering pickup. You place a grocery order online, then you

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<v Speaker 1>choose a pickup window time, Then you head to the store.

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<v Speaker 1>You park an especially labeled spot, call a number, and

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<v Speaker 1>wait for someone to come out and load your order

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<v Speaker 1>into your car. Now, if you have kids in car seats,

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<v Speaker 1>this can be really handy. They'll put everything in your

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<v Speaker 1>car for you. And if you're wondering, can you trust

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<v Speaker 1>someone to pick out your produce and meat, well, you

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<v Speaker 1>might be surprised to find out that Walmart has already

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<v Speaker 1>thought of that.

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<v Speaker 2>I think it'll be really impressed with the skills that

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<v Speaker 2>they have to pick out groceries for you. So they're

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<v Speaker 2>trained for weeks. This is their specific role, their personal shoppers.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is a job that we never had in

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<v Speaker 2>the store before the existence of online grocery pickup. So yes,

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<v Speaker 2>they're trained for several weeks. They know how to pick

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<v Speaker 2>out the best tomato. They know how to look for

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<v Speaker 2>beastings on the watermelon and how hollow it should be

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<v Speaker 2>when you knock on it.

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<v Speaker 1>And I did ask about tipping. While Amazon encourages you

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<v Speaker 1>to tip your Prime Now and grocery delivery folks, Walmart

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<v Speaker 1>told me that tips aren't just discouraged, but associates aren't

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<v Speaker 1>allowed to accept them. By the way, these innovations seem

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<v Speaker 1>to be working. Walmart just reported some of their best

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<v Speaker 1>quarterly performance in a decade and online sales are up

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<v Speaker 1>forty percent. Question is does Walmart need to get the

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<v Speaker 1>whole food slash Amazon crowd to change their habits or

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<v Speaker 1>just get more of their own customers to modify theirs.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening. If you want a link

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<v Speaker 1>to watch the video of the pickup tower in action,

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<v Speaker 1>go to my website. It is richontech dot tv. I'm Richdemiro.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll talk to you real soon.