Walmart Curbside Pick-Up

I hate to say it, but grocery shopping is the bane of my existence. It's a necessary evil, because obviously we need food in the house, but I absolutely hate having to go to the store.

I think part of my hate is due to how crowded the stores near us always seem to be. Initially, we were going to a nearby Smith's because they have a great deli and decent prices. However, our particular location seems small, the parking lot is a mess and it is always jam packed full of people, no matter what time we went. I would always try to avoid the shopping or put it off as long as possible because it annoyed me so much. 

I don't remember why I suggested it, but I mentioned to John that we should try the Walmart Super Center near us. He was quite surprised because he knows that I absolutely despise Walmart, though he had shopped at Walmart for years. Let me just say, after that first visit, I decided we could never shop anywhere else. Of course, the store is HUGE, there is tons of parking, it's 24 hours, and the aisles are wide. Even when it's crowded, you don't notice. Their prices seriously cannot be beaten - we would come out of there with way more than we would buy at Smith's and only spend around half as much. The only downside is that there are never enough checkout lanes open and sometimes trips would take us 2-3 hours. This is really tough when you have an infant along for the ride. Rosslyn was always really good, but saving time (and money) really makes things more enjoyable.

You may have read my previous article about Instacart Grocery Delivery (if not, check it out here). That service would be really hard to use to order all of your groceries, and I didn't exactly have the best experience overall. About a month ago, I came across an ad on Facebook recommending Walmart curbside pick-up. We had been planning on going shopping, so I decided to check it out. I did my shopping online and added around $150 worth of groceries to my cart. Everything from fresh produce, to ground beef, milk, bagels, etc. John was very skeptical and didn't really want to try this service, but I convinced him that it was worth a shot. I scheduled our pick-up time for between 6-7pm the next evening and we paid for everything.

We were a bit disappointed to find out that the closest store offering this was about 10 miles away, and at a Walmart Neighborhood Market. I received confirmation of our order via e-mail, where it was also suggested that I download the grocery app so that I could "check-in" to let them know when we were on our way to retrieve our order. The next day around 5pm, I received a text message saying our order was ready for pick-up (earlier than expected, which is always nice). Because of this, we headed to the store early and I checked in via the app to let them know we were en route. There were specific instructions provided, telling us to follow the signs for pick-up once we arrived to the parking lot. There was also a huge, brightly lit sign on the side of the store that alerted us where to go. Here we found 10 dedicated parking spots and pulled in. There was an associate loading groceries into another car and he advised us he would be with us momentarily. So far, so good.

Once he was done with the other customer, he approached our car and asked if I was Teri. Once confirmed, he said he'd be back in a few minutes. Sure enough, he returned a few minutes later, pulling a flat cart containing all of our groceries (no easy feat - we ordered A LOT!). He was very kind and friendly (thanks, Dennis!) and explained to us that a few of the items we ordered were not available. However, what is fantastic is, instead of just not including those items, they substitute them for a better brand or a larger size. For example, I had requested a 2 ounce bag of real bacon bits, which had apparently sold out. They replaced them with a larger bag (6 ounces), but only charged us what we initially agreed to. Also, we love the Great Value brand products - if you request something that is not available, they will simply replace them with a brand name product of a higher price. Dennis and John loaded everything into the car and we were on our way in less than 10 minutes. We were absolutely ecstatic, but also didn't want to get too excited until we could get home and survey the quality of the produce.

We got home and unloaded everything. All of the produce was in perfect condition, just as we would've chosen for ourselves. We were really pleased with everything and we were amazed by how much time this saved us. Needless to say, John was sold. I jokingly said that I was never going to the grocery store again and I think he now agrees! A minimum order of $30 is required to utilize this service, but that's easy.

The next week, we placed a 2nd order, which John scheduled to pick-up on his way home from work. He picked up the groceries, they were put away and dinner was made in less than half the time it would've taken us to actually go to the store. I can't stress enough how easy this entire process has been. The fact that there is no additional charge for curbside pick-up is also fantastic! The only bad thing is that there are currently only 2 stores in the Valley that offer this service - one in North Las Vegas and the Neighborhood Market at Eastern/Warm Springs. 

I am always on the lookout for opportunities to save time and money, and this was a major winner for our family. Not having to get out of the car and drag Rosslyn to the store was amazing! Also, when we go into the store, we always end up buying things we don't need, causing us to spend more money than planned. This helped us avoid that, and we didn't have to wait in line! If there is a store near you that offers this service, I highly recommend giving it a try, unless you would really miss the people watching at Walmart! We've now been using this service to complete our grocery shopping each week and it continues to be amazing. A couple of notes: when placing your order, you can specify if you don't want an item substituted. Also, the associates who load your groceries do not accept tips, which is incredible! They are always so nice and seem to enjoy their jobs and we appreciate their help each week.

You can save $10 on your first order by clicking here.

Happy shopping!