Walmart Ends Standalone Pickup Stores Experiment: Decade-Long Pilot Locations Shut Down
Walmart is ending a nearly decade-long experiment with stores focused solely on fulfilling online orders, with the last two remaining standalone pickup and delivery locations set to close this week. The retail giant confirmed it will close the pickup and delivery only stores in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Lincolnwood, Illinois, on February 17.
The Bentonville location, near Walmart’s headquarters, opened as a prototype grocery store in September 2014. Customers could order food online and pick it up without entering the building, as the store was designed for pickup and delivery exclusively. At the time, a Walmart spokesman indicated the company planned to use the store as a test for potential national expansion.
Over the years, at least three such standalone models were established in the United States. In addition to Bentonville and Lincolnwood, a store dedicated to pickup and delivery opened in Metairie, Louisiana, in 2017, but it closed last year. The Lincolnwood store itself had opened in 2019.
Walmart spokeswoman Felicia McCranie stated that the decision to close these stores came after a thorough review process. She explained that the company has taken the lessons learned from these dedicated locations and integrated them into how pickup and delivery services operate from surrounding conventional stores across the country.
The retailer concluded that it no longer needs these e-commerce-only sites because it has significantly expanded pickup and delivery options at thousands of full-service locations nationwide since the initial Bentonville store opened. Pickup is now offered from over 4,570 Walmart locations, and same-day grocery delivery is available from more than 3,550 stores, according to McCranie.
McCranie expressed gratitude to the patrons of the closing stores. “We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Pickup and Delivery locations,” she said in an email. We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com.
The decision to close these specific format stores comes as Walmart has observed a slowdown in its e-commerce growth following the peak seen during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. During the second quarter of 2020, Walmart US ecommerce sales surged by 97% compared with the previous year, as consumers largely turned to online shopping amidst widespread lockdowns.
More recently, in the quarter ending November 2022, Walmart US e-commerce sales saw a 16% year-over-year increase. While still growth, this figure represents a significant deceleration from the rates experienced earlier in the pandemic.
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Experience Migration: Walmart Integrates Standalone Store Models into Regular Supermarket Services
Walmart emphasized that the closure decision does not reflect negatively on the performance or dedication of the associates working at the Bentonville and Lincolnwood stores. The company plans to support the affected workers. McCranie stated, “We have been and will continue to be supportive of our store leadership and associates at these stores.”
She added, “This decision is in no way a reflection of their hard work and customer service. We are hopeful the associates at these stores will want to continue their careers with Walmart by transferring to another nearby store.” Associates at these stores will be eligible for transfer, with thousands of positions available in other Walmart stores in the immediate areas.
The dedicated pickup-and-delivery stores were considerably smaller than conventional Walmart supercenters, which can exceed 200,000 square feet. The Bentonville location originally took up 15,000 square feet for groceries and consumables and could serve 19 cars at a time, according to 2014 reports. More recent information from a spokesperson indicates the Bentonville store occupied approximately 25,000 square feet.
The Lincolnwood location was larger than Bentonville, encompassing roughly 42,000 square feet, according to 2019 reports, and approximately 41,700 square feet per a spokesperson. Despite their unique function, these sizes remained well below that of a typical supercenter.
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Industry Trend Collision: Walmart’s Strategic Adjustment vs. Sustained Growth in Consumer Pickup Demand
Walmart’s move to exit the standalone pickup-only format contrasts with the strategies of some smaller retailers and startups that are investing in similar concepts. Companies like Addie’s and JackBe are focusing on drive-up or pickup-only models, securing funding and seeing customer retention in their initial phases.
Despite Walmart closing these specific test locations, the broader trends in consumer behavior indicate strong and growing preference for pickup options. The 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index found that 26% more consumers across five countries used Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) options in 2022 compared to the previous year, favoring convenience and cost-effectiveness.
In the United States, specifically, the study noted a 37% year-over-year increase in consumers picking up their online purchases in-store or curbside, accounting for nearly one-third of U.S. online shoppers. Brazil also saw a significant uptick, with a 74% year-over-year increase in online shoppers picking up purchases in-store.
These trends highlight that while standalone pickup-only stores may not fit Walmart’s current strategy moving forward, the underlying demand for convenient pickup options remains robust. The retailer intends to apply the insights gained from its nearly decade-long test at these sites to enhance the pickup and delivery services offered from its vast network of traditional stores, signaling an evolution in how the retail giant integrates online ordering with physical store locations.
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