News

Wal-Mart tests huge in-store pickup machine for online orders

November 1, 2016

Wal-Mart has built a giant tower inside one of its stores that acts as a vending machine for online orders, according to Business Insider.

The automatic pickup machine is being tested in a Walmart store in Bentonville, Arkansas, not far from the company's headquarters.

When a customer orders something online for in-store pickup, the customer gets an order number.

When the person arrives at the tower, he or she enters the order number into the machine. The machine then dispenses the package.

While the machine requires a lot of space, it is designed to be more versatile than pickup lockers — which Walmart has also tested — because it has the ability to adjust the size of the compartments where packages are kept.