Walmart has started offering online shopping to Women, Infants and Children Nutrition program participants in Massachusetts and Washington state, the states’ health departments separately announced Tuesday.
Massachusetts participants can, for the first time, buy WIC-approved foods online for in-store pickup or delivery from 48 Walmart stores across the state. The WIC program serves more than 125,000 residents in the state each year.
In Washington, WIC participants can now place online orders from 67 Walmart stores. The state has approximately 205,000 WIC participants, according to the state’s health department. The WIC pilot project in that state is set to last through the end of 2025, with the goal of expanding online ordering for WIC participants to other retailers after an evaluation period.
In both states, WIC shoppers can use Walmart’s app and website to place orders.
“Walmart’s multi-channel capabilities provide customers with a seamless shopping experience, whether through in-store, online, pickup or delivery to help increase access to healthy foods,” Ryland Allen, vice president of baby merchandising at Walmart, said in the Washington announcement.
WIC online ordering can address challenges like limited mobility, lack of transportation, language barriers, and time constraints facing WIC shoppers, Public Health Commissioner for Massachusetts Robbie Goldstein said in a statement.
These launches stem from a pilot program by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to modernize the WIC program by allowing e-commerce orders, similar to the agency’s pilot and subsequent rollout of SNAP online purchasing. Nine other states have also signed up for the WIC pilot.
As part of the WIC pilot, Hy-Vee offers online shopping to WIC participants in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. Buche Foods in the Midwest is also participating in the pilot.
