Walmart Wants To Beat Amazon By Having Drivers Deliver Groceries Into Refrigerator

In an effort to keep up with Amazon’s Prime shipping service, Walmart wants to deliver groceries all the way into a customer’s refrigerator.

The company announced Friday it will start testing a new service in which items and groceries are delivered and stacked into a person’s refrigerator by the delivery driver. The service is in partnership with other companies, including August Home, a smart lock startup.

The delivery option is aimed for people who are too busy to go grocery shopping and organize their recently bought products.

To get items delivered, customers can go on Walmart’s site for products and grocery items. When the order is ready, a “Deliv” driver brings the goods to the customer’s home. While some delivery services, like Amazon, leave shipments on the front door mat or porch, Walmart associates will take the extra step by putting the items inside a person’s home if no one answers the doorbell. August Home steps in by giving Deliv drivers a one-time passcode that a customer pre-authorizes so that they can open the person’s smart lock.

When the associate rings the doorbell, customers will get a notification on their smartphone telling them the delivery is currently taking place. Users can also watch the Deliv driver bring in the goods through their device in real-time remotely via security cameras.

The associate drops off the items that are not groceries in the entrance and brings the other perishable products to the kitchen and stacks them up in the fridge. After the driver is done, users will receive a confirmation alert on their smartphone that their home’s door has been locked.

Walmart released a video showing how the service would work:

“Imagine planning a last-minute get-together and having everything you need to entertain already waiting for you inside your fridge,” said Walmart in a post. “Or maybe you think during lunch at work that you’d like to surprise your spouse by making dinner, but don’t have time to run to the store.”

The company said it’ll test the service in Silicon Valley with a small group of August Home users who have opted to participate in the delivery method.

Walmart suggested its shipping service war against Amazon is just getting started.

“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,” the company said. “The possibilities are endless, and we look forward to exploring how we can further serve our customers’ needs.”

It might sound good to have someone else deliver and put away groceries, but could be a little creepy for some people to see a total stranger walk inside their home and fridge.