Walmart vs Kroger: Grocery Pickup Parking Lot Showdown

Y'all, we live in the magical world of 2017 where you can order your groceries online and someone will select them all, bag them, and bring them to your car. It is a special place, this world. With two kids under 5, not having to unbuckle all 10 points of seatbelt is a lifesaver. But now that so many stores are offering this service, which one is the best? Not to fear, I've really sacrificed to compare for you by trying out Kroger's ClickList service and Walmart's new grocery pickup. Here's the nitty-gritty.

Kroger ClickList

Pros:

• You can use paper coupons, and digital coupons auto-deduct
• Paper receipt for rebate apps, like iBotta
•  Fast and friendly service
•  Pickup areas are generally well-marked, but it varies by store. The first store I used was clear and great. I had to hunt for the pickup location at the second store.
• If they don't have something in stock and substitute it, you still pay the price of the original item. For example, the store was out of regular grape tomatoes, so they substituted organic grape tomatoes instead. 
• With substitutions, you have the right to say no thanks and you won't be charged for the item.
• ClickList offers unique coupons. I received $11 in FREE snacks in a back-to-school coupon bundle. These included Rice Crispy Treats, fruit cups, granola cups; I even got to select the flavors! This was such a nice treat, as I don't usually buy those items and it's nice to have something different every once in awhile.
• Once you try ClickList, Kroger mails/emails you ClickList specific coupons. I got mailed one for 10% off my entire grocery bill next time I used ClickList. That's big, y'all.
• Bonus Kroger points: After your ClickList experience, you'll receive an e-mail survey (I got one after my first time but not my second, so I'm not sure if it's a first-time only survey or an every-time survey and I got skipped). When you complete the survey, you get 50 Kroger Fuel Points. That's halfway to 10 cents off a gallon of gas!
• Same day pickup!
•  The first 3 ClickList orders waive the $5 fee

Cons:

• No unit prices on website can make it difficult to find the best deal
• Digital coupons don't deduct until you pick up your order, so you don't really know how much you're spending
• It can be hard to find generic items if you don't know the specific names. I had to google what their Kroger version of Triscuit's were called, because they didn't come up under my search for Kroger Crackers.
• $5 per pickup isn't bad at all, but it's not free like Walmart
• When you use paper coupons (which they MAIL me!), an employee has to walk out to your car, get them, walk back, and then print your receipt. I don't mind the extra wait time, but I hate making more work for people, and I wish there was a drive-thru where I could drop them off.
• If you order for the next day and the ad changes the prices of items in your cart, you pay the current day's price. This could completely wreck your savings plan.
• Substitutions can get weird. I ordered cookie dough ice cream, and when they were out they gave me cookies and cream of the same brand instead of a different, if more expensive, brand's cookie dough flavor. I could have declined the substitution, but my kids had been terrible and I needed something to look forward to after they went to bed! #MomLife!
• I've had a lot of trouble placing the order. Their website says the mobile app doesn't do ClickList yet, but there's a button on the app. So my first two orders, I ended up frustrated and had to basically make two lists because it wasn't working right. When I tried to change stores on the website, it deleted my hard-researched list. I ended up going back a page and driving further so I wouldn't lost all the time and effort I'd put into the first list. So there are still some glitches to be worked out.

Walmart Neighborhood Market Grocery Pickup

Pros:

• Unit prices on the website make finding the best deal easy
• Free pickup is a plus, but there is a minimum purchase
• Bonus first timer goody bag- this was such a nice surprise! The little bag is cute and witty, and it included items I often forget (a birthday card!), a breakfast item, a snack item, Spaghetti-O's, and coupons. It's like they know me!
• E-mail has a map of where the pickup location at your store is located
• I created and ordered my entire list from my phone. I used their website in Safari, because I don't like having dozens of apps, and it was easy peasy.
• They e-mail you when your order is ready, even if it's before your pickup window. My order was ready 30 minutes prior to my pickup window, and it was nice knowing that if I was running early (HAHAHA, just a minute while we all laugh at the thought of me being early), I could've picked it up.
• If their ad changes, you get the lowest price- whether it was yesterday's ad or today. It's nice to not worry about ad change day affecting your weekly bill!
• Same day pickup!

Cons:

• Must spend $30 to do a pickup. I was so bummed about this. If I only need a few items, I hate unbuckling my kids for a five minute run into the store. Newsflash- there's no such thing as a five-minute run-in with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.
• Digital receipt hinders rebate apps like iBotta and Coupons.com. I was quite disappointed here, as I had several rebates I wanted to use, but couldn't, because I needed a paper receipt.
• Produce is tricky to order if weighted. For bananas, I put 1- meaning one pound, because the website said it was sold by weight. Instead, I received a single banana. Unlike Kroger, who allows you to add notes, there was no space to indicate how many pounds I wanted.
• I had my husband pick up this order on his way home, which was quite convenient for both of us. He mentioned that when they show you the produce, it's in a bag, so it's hard to tell if it's good or not. When he got home, we realized the one banana had split and turned brown. But he couldn't see that with the produce bag around it.
• Our pickup window was 6-7, so prime after-work hours. My husband mentioned there was only one worker running deliveries out to cars, so the wait time was longer than what we generally experienced at Kroger.

If you'd like to give Walmart Grocery Pickup a try, you can get $10 off by using this code (And I'll earn $10 off my next order too!).

So which is better?

It really depends. I honestly see myself using both. I love how easy Walmart's ordering process was, and it's super close to my house. The Kroger ClickList locations are 15 minutes away, so those require more planning. Kroger has more coupons, and quicker service. Walmart has cheaper prices, but their generic brands aren't as reliable as Kroger's. My choice each week will mostly depend upon what I need, if I'll be on the side of town with Kroger and can justify the $5 fee, or if I have at least $30 worth of stuff but won't be on the Kroger side of town. Coupons will play a deciding role as well; if I have many worthy digital Kroger coupons, I'm going to save up items on my list and head that way.

Both stores offer unique experiences with ups and downs. Neither is perfect yet, and I'm looking forward to 'testing' each store further to discover which is best!

What do you think? Have you tried Kroger's ClickList or Walmart's Grocery Pickup?