Walmart Tests In-Home Delivery Service

Walmart and smart door lock maker August are collaborating on a new service that will make it easier for Walmart shoppers to receive retail purchases and groceries via an in-home delivery — as opposed to leaving packages on the front porch.

Consumers with August smart home devices — doorbells, security cameras, etc. — will be able to have in-home deliveries left inside their homes. Or, for customers who choose to have their groceries delivered, food can be stowed away in the fridge or freezer.

The service is still in testing phase in Silicon Valley.

By leveraging August’s smart door lock products, consumers will be able to watch the entire process in real time if they so desire, as they will be pinged on their phone as the delivery service is happening.

The retail deliveries themselves come through Deliv, a service that Sam’s Club had been testing last year. The driver will use a passcode to enter a user’s home with their items. For home security purposes, that passcode, once used, will never work again.

How much will this delivery service cost? Walmart says pricing remains up in the air and that among the things the ongoing tests will determine is what an appropriate price point might be (i.e. what are customers willing to pay to have their stuff delivered safely inside their homes).

“We’re excited to be running this test in Silicon Valley with a handful of August [smart home] customers, all of whom have opted-in to participate in testing this new concept,” said Sloan Eddleston, head of Strategy for Walmart eCommerce, in the company’s news announcement.

“And we want to do more in the future by delivering groceries and other orders in whatever location works best for our customers — inside the house for some and in the fridge/freezer in the garage for others,” Eddleston added.