Walmart Customers to Use Cash to Buy Online

No plastic, no problem. That’s the message from Walmart, which has announced a new initiative that allows consumers to go online to place orders and then pay for them with cash in its 3,800 stores across the U.S.

The "Pay with Cash" program is the first of its kind from a major retailer, according to Walmart, and gives consumers without access to a debit or credit card the ability to make purchases from an inventory that goes well beyond what is found in the chain’s stores. Shoppers go to one of the chain’s stores to pay within 48 hours of placing an order. The items are then shipped to them at their home or local store.

Walmart, which has built its business by offering products and services catering to unbanked consumers, believes the new program will enable it to solidify its position in the marketplace. A press release to announce the program cited a study conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, which found that 81 percent of unbanked consumers have access to the internet.

walmart pay with cash

"Many of our customers shop paycheck to paycheck and are looking for more ways to purchase items online but don’t have the means to a credit, debit or prepaid card," said Joel Anderson, president and CEO of Walmart.com, in a statement. "[Pay with Cash] makes it easier for our customers to shop the way they want, where they have access to a broader product selection at Walmart.com coupled with the convenience of payment and shipping as they want."

Walmart said cash is the preferred method of payment for the vast majority of its shoppers.

"The fact that only 15 percent of our transactions are done in the form of credit at our stores means there’s a large percentage of Walmart customers who are dependent on cash to transact online. We definitely think it is a big opportunity," Mr. Anderson told All Things Digital.

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Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions: Does the cash payment market represent a big opportunity for retailers selling online? What is your reaction to Walmart’s “Pay with Cash” program?

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David Livingston
David Livingston
11 years ago

I don’t think this is a big opportunity or it would have been done a long time ago. It’s kind of like lay-a-way; there is always going to be some need for it. As long as it doesn’t take a big effort to implement, why not? It’s just another form of C.O.D. There are still a lot of people who live off the grid and Walmart is reaching out to them.

Carol Spieckerman
Carol Spieckerman
11 years ago

A great move by Walmart. Let the naysayers prattle on about how Walmart customers aren’t online (don’t understand streaming media, etc.), in the meantime, Walmart will take it to the bank with the un-banked. This move also takes puts Walmart one big step closer to realizing its global omni-channel aspirations. Hello, emerging markets!

Gene Hoffman
Gene Hoffman
11 years ago

We are in the expanded age of experimenting on how to increase sales in an ever-changing marketplace. There are many types of customers and the “Pay with Cash” program will appeal to some of them. Walmart can’t afford not to reach every possible customer to keep their momentum going.

Charles P. Walsh
Charles P. Walsh
11 years ago

Wow! This is a significant development for Walmart and for shoppers, especially those of modest means.

This is far more convenient than lay-away and doesn’t require the retailer to staff or warehouse inventory. There is no chance that Walmart will ship unwanted goods to the store since the product won’t ship until the customer actually activates the order by paying for it in cash at a Walmart register.

I believe Walmart can gain a real advantage with this innovative payment option.

Paula Rosenblum
Paula Rosenblum
11 years ago

I like it. I can’t pretend to understand the logic of being able to have an internet connection that you pay for with a check or credit card (or however) and still needing to use cash to buy groceries and sundries, but I’m sure it’s a plus for Walmart.

Worst case, the customer knows she can “have it her way” and Walmart gets pluses for accommodating its customers. The actual dollar value is sort of irrelevant. It’s the policy itself that matters.

Joel Rubinson
Joel Rubinson
11 years ago

What I love about this is that it is so counter to the consensus about a cashless society. It is bold and I think Walmart is right to try. We should all watch this experiment in action.

Cathy Hotka
Cathy Hotka
11 years ago

Walmart is smart to pay attention to the unbanked community. The Federal Reserve estimates that 21 million households are unbanked … so why not attempt to cater to this audience, an important constituency for Walmart?

Ed Dunn
Ed Dunn
11 years ago

“Many of our customers shop paycheck to paycheck.”

“…gives consumers without access to a debit or credit card the ability to make purchases from an inventory.”

This is a dead giveaway; Walmart is creating this service as part of their small-format shops in inner city locations where layaway is still commonplace.

This may be a surprising success as it taps into an untapped e-commerce market of the unbanked.

Martin Mehalchin
Martin Mehalchin
11 years ago

This feels like a fairly big opportunity for mass-market and down-market retailers. Kudos to Walmart for understanding their customer and designing a business process that fits the customers’ needs instead of the other way around. They are also smart not to ship until cash changes hands at the store; otherwise they could incur high logistics costs from “no-show” orders.

Mel Kleiman
Mel Kleiman
11 years ago

With almost 10,000,000 unbanked households in the US, this is a potential great market.

Paul Sikkema
Paul Sikkema
11 years ago

This idea is not new at all. As usual, Sears has been doing this for quite some time. In their stores you can order online, pay in the store (with cash or any other method of payment) and get free shipping on mailable items from their kiosks.

I also did this just last week at Macy’s.

This works very well for customers who are afraid to give out their credit card info online and those who still use checks and cash.

Verlin Youd
Verlin Youd
11 years ago

Very insightful move by Walmart, showing they have segmented, analysed, and know their customers; and further are willing to invest to meet their needs. There is a substantial portion of the US population that does not actively use credit cards and in fact may not actually use a bank at all, but may have internet access through various means. Walmart is recognizing that segment and providing incremental value to keep ahead of the competition.

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
11 years ago

Paula pretty much said it for me — want a smartphone? No job, no credit, no bank…no problem! But if everyone involved is happy with it, so be it. Of course it’s not “really” online selling if it involves not only going to the store to pick it up, but to pay for it as well … at least not in the Notcom Abridged Dictionary, anyway.

Michael Flanagan
Michael Flanagan
11 years ago

Terrific idea. Not just because it lets Walmart sell its goods to 10 million US households, but because it provides a mechanism by which Walmart can become the agent for those households to buy on the web from everyone else.

Just as Amazon uses its system to make money from orders laid off onto other etailers, Walmart’s network of stores can become the instrument to help the unbanked buy from other businesses.

Anne Bieler
Anne Bieler
11 years ago

This will be more important as Walmart goes forward, in more urban areas, and reaching out to more lower-income shoppers. The program makes sense; there are shoppers who will find this a better way to manage limited income.

Kai Clarke
Kai Clarke
11 years ago

This is a great concept that extends Walmart’s reach to the core of its customers. Simple, smart and easy to implement, this will boost potential sales of these type of customers. The real question remains, how many of these “paycheck to paycheck” customers have full online access and desire to purchase things online?

Domenick Celentano
Domenick Celentano
11 years ago

Just a different perspective on this. This certainly expands the boundary of “multichannel” retailing. Paying at the store and then potentially ship to store increases the chances of impulse sales.

Tom Redd
Tom Redd
11 years ago

This is a new technique when you consider the role that mobile retailing is playing. Why? Mobile broadens the market that Walmart can reach. Even younger adults/kids can shop with their own cash online/on-mobile.

With the new shape that retail is taking even the most basic ideas — like this — become stronger and have more potential.

Oh, also, I needed this back when my kids wanted to buy online and “pay me back.”

…cash is king!

Sujatha Shanmugam
Sujatha Shanmugam
11 years ago

I wonder how this is better than COD (Cash on Delivery); Customer engages at 3 touch points — online, store to make payment, and then home delivery.. Isn’t this cumbersome?