Wal-Mart expands grocery pickup service

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The online grocery wars are getting fiercer.

Wal-Mart said Wednesday it’s expanding its service that allows customers to order groceries online and then pick them up in the parking lot of their local store.

The nation’s largest food retailer said it is adding eight new markets this month to its free curbside grocery pickup service. They include Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; and Charleston, S.C.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has been offering the service in roughly 150 stores in 22 markets. By the end of April, it will offer it in roughly 200 stores in 30 markets. Wal-Mart operates more than 4,500 namesake stores in the U.S.

It says it will add more locations offering the curbside service over the course of the year.

The move comes as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. aims to further capitalize on its power to combine its brick-and-mortar stores with online shopping. That focus is different from other rivals such as Amazon.com and Instacart, which are delivering groceries directly to shoppers’ homes.

The other new markets for the curbside service are: Boise, Idaho; Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Provo, Utah; and Daphne, Ala.