What is Walmart Online Pick Up & Delivery?
Many brands are offering alternative pickup methods to help keep customers and employees safe. Such options include home delivery or curbside grocery pickup. Walmart is offering the same thing, but can provide more advantages for both its customers and its partner brands.
What is Walmart Online Pick Up & Delivery (OPD)?
When you order from Walmart.com, you have the option of using Walmart Online Pick Up & Delivery, (OPD) where items are packed and prepped for your arrival and given to you upon your arrival at the store. You’re able to pick it up from a designated pickup spot inside the store or have it brought out to your car via curbside pickup.
How does it work?
Shoppers will need to register for a Walmart.com account in order to place an OPD order. Once an account has been created, they are free to order from any product within the Pickup & Delivery category of the Walmart.com site.
Customers can shop in both the Grocery section and the general merchandise section of Walmart.com. Items from both sections will be made available for OPD, but only if the chosen location has the items in stock. If the store doesn’t have a valid item in stock, the customer can choose to activate the “substitutions” option, and the store will substitute the missing item for an item of equal or better value for no additional cost.
There is a minimum order value of $35 for OPD. There are no additional fees for OPD orders that are picked up in a Walmart store.
Recent changes and impact on brands
As of March 1st, advertisers no longer need to choose whether their ads serve on Walmart.com or on pickup & delivery. Search ads will automatically serve in the most relevant placements across the entire platform. As a result of this, reporting will be combined as well. Pickup & delivery inventory is now available through Walmart self-serve and through the Walmart Advertising Partners program.
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, Walmart.com has its own distinct advantages over online-only retailers like Amazon.
First and foremost is its sheer number of physical locations. According to Walmart, 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart location. This makes it convenient for people to use Walmart OPD. Walmart has begun offering its customers No-Contact Pickup to keep them safe during the pandemic, making it an attractive option for seniors and safety-conscious customers.
Second, a report by App Annie shows that there is a rapid increase in traffic for Walmart.com’s shopping app. While Amazon still has far more total downloads than Walmart, Walmart is competing closely with Amazon in the number of daily downloads. It had surpassed Amazon by as much as 20% and in 2020 held the #1 spot for shopping apps in the US.
Walmart’s surge in online popularity, coupled with its extensive shipping network, many store locations, and pickup and delivery options, means that brands will enjoy an increased number of online sales despite the challenges of the pandemic. It’s an excellent time to lean in on Walmart’s online offering and aggressively advertise through Walmart.com’s ad programs.
Walmart also plans to combine its digital offerings across Walmart.com, Online Pickup and Delivery, and the Walmart App to create a more holistic digital shopping experience.
Historically, advertising across these offerings has been separate. Starting in March, Walmart Connect will combine these offerings to produce more inventory and optimization levers for sellers.
This change means that advertisers can get their messaging in front of shoppers right when they’re making purchasing decisions.
Walmart OPD: Tips for Brands
“With the consolidation of OPD and .com, it’s increasingly important for sellers to keep a close eye on KPI volatility considering the fact that all swim lane changes occurred behind the scenes. These changes are likely to bring an increase in impressions and clicks so sellers will want to ensure that that increase is also positively influencing sales, conversion rate and return on investment.”
– Stuart Clay, Associate Director, Marketplace Strategic Services at Tinuiti
Do you want to know more about selling through Walmart.com and other platforms? Reach out to our team of experts today.
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