Walmart recently introduced a “pay with cash” option for all of its online shoppers. It’s really simple.
Load up your online shopping cart, get the total, go to Walmart, pay the balance in cash, then, your stuff will arrive in the mail shortly (or you can pick it up at the store).
In the eight weeks since its launch, “pay with cash” now accounts for 2% of all Walmart.com shopping. Also, 30% of the “pay with cash” customers are entirely new to Walmart.com. I think that makes a powerful statement about online shopping.
Many consumers don’t use credit or debit cards, and Walmart tapped a valuable demographic with this new service. You know what else is big news? The “pay with cash” orders are 50% larger than those of the average online shopper. That’s powerful stuff!
I think we can safely say Walmart will be recognized as an innovator with this one. Walmart.com CEO, Joel Anderson has noticed the online shopping trend and he intends to capitalize on it as much as possible.
In fact, Anderson says the company is striving for an “anytime, anywhere” presence in consumer spending. Their focus has shifted to online spending, and more specifically, mobile.
Walmart.com CEO, Joel Anderson, comments on the future of retail:
“I can’t overstate how mobile is changing how we interact with our consumers,”
“We have to embrace these changes,”
“What we have to do is provide anytime, anywhere access. The customer is demanding that.”
So, while we have seen Walmart attempt to break into online shopping with other services like their Vudu streaming video, and their Goodies gourmet sampler program, “pay with cash” online has been one of the most successful and it truly taps a whole new demographic of shoppers.
Who knows what their current focus on the mobile shopping platform will bring us, but if it’s anything as groundbreaking as “pay with cash”, Walmart will be raking in the dough.
