JUMP TO Section Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.- How Walmart InHome delivery works
- Signing up for Walmart InHome
- Lock installation
- Shopping on the Walmart app for InHome delivery
- My experience with Walmart InHome delivery
- My experience with Walmart InHome returns and exchanges
- Pros & Cons
- The bottom line
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- Walmart's new InHome delivery lets you get nearly anything Walmart sells (including groceries) delivered inside your home.
- I tried it, ordering four deliveries over the course of a month.
- While there were a few kinks, I think it's the best delivery service I've used so far.
Delivery services have been on the upswing since before COVID hit, but the pandemic kicked their development into high gear. Low- and no-contact delivery to your front door has become the norm, but I was intrigued when I heard that Walmart is taking it a step further with its InHome program, where you can get groceries and other items delivered inside your home and even put away in your fridge.
Walmart InHome is currently only available in select markets, but one of those areas happens to be where I live. After giving it a try myself over the course of a month (and with four deliveries under my belt) I think it's an affordable but premium service that could revolutionize grocery deliveries.
Here's my experience with Walmart InHome delivery
How Walmart InHome delivery works
It's exactly what it sounds like. Imagine all the convenience of delivered groceries, but several steps further, right into your kitchen or garage refrigerator. All this is done by ultra-vetted employees who, along with shoe covers and masks, wear fully lit body cams that record every minute of your delivery. To fulfill your order, they're granted one-time-access to your home via Level lock, the Genie garage door retrofit kit, keypad, or other compatible device. You can read more about how the program works and what you get for the price here.
Signing up for Walmart InHome
As mentioned, Walmart InHome is only available in a few markets at the moment. You can find out if your area qualifies on the program's website. Honestly, this page was pretty glitchy for me and its buttons and links were not super responsive. But I bore with it and was rewarded with celebratory confetti on my screen and the names and faces of the InHome associates shopping for my neighborhood seconds after I was able to type in my address.
Initial sign-up required me to choose the monthly or yearly plan right off the bat, and a credit card number that would be kept on file for presumptive future orders and renewals.
Next, it walked me through options for where I'd prefer my deliveries be placed: doorstep, garage, in-kitchen, or other. This is where you're finally able to choose and purchase the lock or garage door opener installation for $49.95.
Lock installation
I followed the onsite instructions to set up a lock installation appointment for the next day. Living in an HOA community, I was concerned that no part of this process asked me which hardware model or color I preferred. This worry proved to be unfounded as the appointment confirmation email assured me that they would help me choose a device.
I received a call the next morning going over my options, and was able to select the Level Touch I'd wanted — at no additional charge, despite a significant cost difference between the other two choices. Because the technician had to pick the lock up from a different location, my installation time was moved down.
He arrived promptly with a full set of tools and got right to work. It took about 35 minutes to install since he had to reshape the bolt hole in the frame.
After that, he asked for a broom and dustpan, cleaned up quickly and unobtrusively, and walked me through setting up the lock on the app, coding the keycards, and how to create guest passes. I asked other questions, like if he could reinstall my removed keypad deadbolt if I didn't like it (he could and would at no extra charge), and bid him goodbye after a total of an hour's time.
With all of that in place, I was ready to start shopping.
Shopping on the Walmart app for InHome delivery
You would think that all you need is the InHome program's app to get going, but in actuality, you need a total of three apps for the full experience. While the InHome app acts as a hub, you still need the Walmart app and the Level or Genie app (whichever applies) for most functionality. Your app downloads drop to two if you're using a traditional keypad.
Using the Walmart app is a little tedious since you have to approach it with a grocery list already in mind. While the initial dashboard shows you personalized categories, featured items, and suggestions, as soon as you search for anything, you're stuck in search mode. This makes for an efficient and probably cost-saving shopping experience, as you can't browse every "aisle" on the app, but I'd prefer some flexibility to browse.
Browsing is easier on the desktop website, but that platform also has its own quirks. On the website, I found I had to select "delivery" every time I searched for something new or went into a different category. On the flip side, if something is out of stock, the website makes it easy to change locations.
What's nice is how seamlessly the app and desktop website work together when you're logged into both of them. There is zero lag time between them and your cart is always up to date in both. I was also surprised at the breadth of what qualified for InHome delivery; it seems that every department (barring alcohol) is available, even departments like Garden and Auto.
That said, there are still a lot of updates needed on the UX side before the shopping experience is seamless. Those updates are clearly being made; in the month I used the app I noticed many changes and updates.
My experience with Walmart InHome delivery
To test the range of the service, I made four orders over the course of the month, choosing products across many departments. I opted to be present for some of the deliveries and absent for others. I also tested next-day fulfillment, did a post-order add-on, accepted a substitution, and attempted a simultaneous return.
What I found was that my experience rested entirely in the hands of the associate assigned my order. Because this service is new, not all trainees are equally experienced, creating some. inconsistencies.
My first delivery
My first delivery was assigned to an associate named Rebecca, who was absolutely phenomenal on both of the occasions she handled my orders. A three-year veteran of Walmart based out of a Supercenter a ways away from my home, she had been given expanded territory into my area as they work on training associates closer.
She arrived in full uniform in a special SUV emblazoned with Walmart logos, making no mistake that she was authorized to be there. She began recording at my porch, her fully lit body cam clearly showing her slipping on the shoe covers before knocking and announcing "Walmart home delivery," then using her one-time code for my Level lock through her InHome associate app. As soon as she did so, I received two notifications on my phone saying that my delivery had arrived and my groceries were being put away.
Since I was home and this was my first delivery, I took advantage of this opportunity to ask her questions. She was happy to explain her process to me, such as how she makes sure to keep chemicals and food separate and checks to make sure all pets are inside before she leaves, as once the delivery is marked complete on her end, she will be unable to access the house again.
After she left, I received notifications via text, email, and app that the delivery was marked closed. Within 20 minutes, I had the video of the delivery in my InHome app ready to view, which was supremely helpful. Other than obvious security reasons, it helped me to locate my in-fridge purchases as my items were placed wherever there was visible room on my refrigerator shelves.
Later that day, I was emailed a very quick survey to fill out rating this associate's service. It took less than a minute to give Rebecca the well-deserved 5 stars across the board.
Subsequent deliveries
The deliveries by the other two associates followed roughly this format. A barrage of notifications preceded each delivery, with even more notifications if the InHome staff member hit delays and had to adjust their ETA. All had neat appearances in full uniform and branded vehicles. Each knocked and made a verbal announcement before entry, exhibited friendliness to my dog, and demonstrated remarkable and above-board courtesy — more than I've experienced in any physical store. And all three associates showed immense care in handling my purchases, placing everything ever so gently on my counters, keeping food items separate, and breakables away from edges.
However, the details of these deliveries weren't quite as smooth as my experiences with Rebecca (who handled two of my deliveries over the month).
For instance, during my delivery with one associate, I had cleared a space in my refrigerator, but items were still placed willy-nilly on several shelves. A bag of frozen onions and peppers were inexplicably placed on cake slices that got a bit smashed from the weight.
And some of the produce, like pre-sliced mushrooms I ordered, were looking a little wilted and browned. Finally, my two packs of raw meat were placed on the very top shelf — a major food safety no-no that likely needs to be addressed in training.
While the associate's shoes were fully covered right before entry, his mask was not fully on. During another delivery with a different associate, the employee was never masked. That employee also parked around the corner and put his shoe coverings on at the van instead of on the porch, which meant outside dirt would get tracked in.
One last hiccup in my final delivery was no fault of the Walmart employees. Much to my associate's chagrin as a recently trained InHome employee, his temporary Level keycode wasn't working, so it was fortunate that I was home.
When I finally answered the door, wondering why he was still outside after several minutes, he was on the phone with his supervisor trying to work out why the app was not allowing him access. He apologized profusely and seemed very relieved that I was there to receive my packages; he was clearly new to the service and a bit nervous about it.
When I pressed him — for research, of course! — on what he would have done had I not been home, he answered that in those instances, his supervisor would advise him to call the phone number on file to ask if the items ought to be left at the door, or if I'd like to reschedule or cancel the order.
Overall, these small inconsistencies in service were not enough to deter me from using the program again. Instead, they seemed like growing pains that need some time and experience to work out as the program expands.
My experience with Walmart InHome returns and exchanges
It's fairly easy to start a return from the InHome app, Walmart app, or website. However, I did struggle with figuring out how to select multiple items in one return request. Once I did, I got an email with instructions to leave the item indoors by the entrance assigned for deliveries. The associate who picked up my return also said that folks are welcome to leave their returns outside at the door, too.
The day of, I received an email confirmation of my return being processed within an hour after pickup. I also received a pop-up within the InHome app saying that the team was handling my return and refund.
A few days later, though, it seemed that my return and refund were caught in a loop. My account kept showing "Still Have Items to Return" and "Pending". However, this is another instance where the recorded delivery is helpful, as the video clearly shows the associate taking my return items with him.
I ended up calling the customer service line to clear this up, and appreciated that the phone number was prominently provided across all apps and emails. It's evident that InHome customers are given a dedicated priority line as the wait time was minimal and the service associates were warm and attentive.
The representative confirmed that the sweatpants and workout dice I was returning had to go back to a processing center and not a store, and pushed through my refund since the return center was delayed. This call took 11 minutes to resolve and my refund was closed promptly.
Much more efficient and instantly gratifying was when I tried to return some past-prime mushrooms. I stated quality as the reason for my return and was immediately refunded in-app for my $1.87 purchase with a note saying no physical product return was necessary.
Lastly, I attempted to exchange my chipped soap dish to see how they would handle exchanges, since while exchanges are referred to, there is no clear process.
Turns out, the only way to truly do an InHome exchange is to return and reorder in another transaction. Again, I received instant confirmation that my return was being processed and I readied it for pickup. However, it seems as though it was not worth the gas and personpower to Walmart to send an associate out to pick up a $2.47 soap dish, and eventually received notice that my refund was processed with no physical return necessary.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 30-day free trial
- A priority customer care service line provides better customer service than in-store
- Temperature-sensitive foods are minimally impacted
- No risk of package thieves as with other delivery or grocery shipping options
- Body cams ensure personal and property safety and help you track where your items are placed
- Ample notifications provide transparency and further ensure safety
- Obvious uniforms and branded vehicles protect against imposters
- Limited access virtual keys make it much more palatable to have strangers in your home
- Returns are convenient and easy
- Walmart+ benefits also come with the subscription
- Can opt for month by month membership or annual package for savings
- Payment methods saved to account, including loaded gift cards
Cons:
- Need to pay to install a Level lock, garage door kit, or already have a keypad in place
- Requires three apps to use the service
- Apps can be buggy and are constantly updated, which means features you like may just disappear
- Overcommunicative; a lot of redundant emails and notifications
- Protocols on proper food placement in refrigerators need work
- Delivery practices inconsistent from associate to associate (and you can't request a specific associate)
- Returns to the return center may require follow-up
The bottom line
InHome may have just won me back as a Walmart customer.
Sure, there are kinks to work out, but they may be small sacrifices to a large portion of the population. For instance, the program offers flexibility to senior citizens and those with limited mobility that other grocery delivery services can't — food is brought into the home with no need to carry bags from the front door, plus the service provides same-day access to a super store's entire catalog. Busy parents or hybrid workers can come home to stocked refrigerators.
And while we're in a COVID lull, not everyone is ready to return to crowded aisles, congested check-outs, and dirty shopping carts. Staying at home is still an appealing default for many, and rising fuel prices make InHome even more of a win.
Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. Coverage created by Insider Reviews for a particular advertiser is clearly marked as such. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.
Su-Jit Lin Su-Jit is a writer first and everything else second. Her work has been featured in Real Simple, The Spruce Eats, HuffPost, PEOPLE, Al Jazeera, Longreads, Thrillist, The Kitchn, Eat This, Not That!, AllRecipes, Yummly, Ravishly, AAA Magazine, and others. Her person, however, can be found looking for the very best food; shopping for or making food; traveling to sample food; working off said food through exercise or adventure; or writing about all of the above and how they shape the human experience. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnmKS6pnvWmqOmmaKpeqq6x6iknmWUmrmqwsSrsGaqlau2psM%3D