Is Wal-Mart’s curbside grocery pickup all that? Let us tell you

We thought we’d better try Wal-Mart’s new curbside grocery pickup for you.

Order online, pick up, done. That was the hope.

We ordered from two Wal-Mart stores to see if service was consistent. The first thing we realized is this is not a service for last-minute grocery trips. Your order must be placed at least seven hours in advance for pickup at 10 a.m. or after, and six hours in advance for pickup at 4 p.m. or after.

We placed our order Wednesday morning for pickup Thursday morning. Wal-Mart has a $30 minimum for pickup orders. The service is free.

I found it easier to plug my items into the search bar rather than sort through the lists of categories. The items I usually find on the shelves of my Neighborhood Market were available. It took only a couple of minutes to select everything on my lists.

Granted, the lists were short. I bought multiples of five items from the Neighborhood Market on U.S. 49 in Gulfport and multiples of six items from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Sangani Boulevard in D’Iberville, spending $50 at each store. The third Coast Wal-Mart that offers curbside pickup is the Supercenter on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs.

The Gulfport and D’Iberville stores confirmed the orders by email and called 30 minutes before pickup time to say the orders were ready.

The first available pickup time at the Neighborhood Market in Gulfport was 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday, so up I rolled to the Supercenter on U.S. 49 with digital journalist Justin Mitchell in tow to shoot video and photos. We saw no curbside parking for grocery pickup, which the website had assured me would be there. Uh-oh, first bad sign.

I called inside. If you’re reading carefully, you’ve already realized we were at the WRONG Wal-Mart. Up the road we rolled to the Neighborhood Market, where curbside-pickup parking was clearly marked in orange. Plenty of parking, also clearly marked in orange.

We called the telephone number on the sign and sat there not a minute before a friendly young man, Jose Magee, emerged with our groceries. He loaded them in the trunk, but said we were not allowed to tip him. We were in the Wal-Mart parking lot all of one minute. One minute.

We delivered our Gulfport groceries to the Salvation Army’s food pantry, so now you see why we bought multiple items. Demand is high in summer, when children are out of school and need three meals a day. We dropped off rice, beans, potted meat, Vienna sausages and ramen noodles.

The canned meat and ramen noodles will go to homeless people for weekend meals.

Then it was off to D’Iberville, where curbside service was equally fast and friendly. Wal-Mart associate Shannon Barnes even offered me a chilled bottled water — accepted — when she brought the groceries.

We delivered coffee, sweet relish, barbecue sauce, a powered drink mix and mayonnaise to Seashore Mission on Division Street in Biloxi, where meals are cooked for the homeless and underprivileged. They always need coffee, said Judy Longo, who requested items she is unable to get from an area food pantry.

Grocery pickup came off without a hitch at both Wal-Marts. I would definitely be ordering groceries to pick up this weekend if the service were offered at my Neighborhood Market. Maybe it will be soon.

As more people hear about the service and start using it, those curbside parking spots might begin to fill up and service could be slower. Right now, it’s a breeze and a good time to go for it.

But don’t take our word for it. Hannah Bell, a mom of two who lives in Gulfport, recently tried out the service, too.

“It made my day,” she said. “Just not to have the hassle of getting both kids out of the car and getting both kids through the store to get everything on my list was a huge time saver. Everything was perfect.”

Bell said Wal-Mart has separate appliances for keeping curbside groceries chilled, so her butter was not melted as she had feared it might be.

A couple of other bonuses she mentioned: No impulse purchases while strolling the aisles, and her recipes were right there by her computer so she could make sure she didn’t leave any ingredients off her list.

So there you have it.

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Is Wal-Mart’s curbside grocery pickup all that? Let us tell you."