Walmart wants to deliver groceries to your home — and stick them in your refrigerator, whether you’re home or not.
The retail giant is testing the new personal service in Silicon Valley, where it has partnered with smart-doorbell company, August Home, and same-day delivery service, Deliv.
Walmart Vice President Sloan Eddleston said the service is intended to help busy families keep their fridge well-stocked while the adults are at work or away running other tasks.
"Think about that — someone else does the shopping for you AND puts it all away,” Eddleston wrote in a blog post announcing the test.
Under the service, the delivery person would enter a one-time passcode to unlock the door of the customer and then enter the home and unload items in the kitchen.
The customer gets a notification when the deliveries are taking place and has the option to stream the process with provided cameras.
The program is intended to appeal to city residents who already have too much on their multi-tasking lists, he said.
“Imagine planning a last-minute get-together and having everything you need to entertain already waiting for you inside your fridge,” he wrote. “Or maybe you think during lunch at work that you’d like to surprise your spouse by making dinner, but don’t have time to run to the store. In the future, you could order on Walmart.com and start cooking minutes after you walk through the door.”
About 95 percent of people who participated in a TODAY Twitter poll said they would not let a delivery person put groceries away when no one was home.
"Groceries delivered to my front door = super convenient. Groceries placed in my fridge by a stranger = super creepy," Lupe Siddharth wrote in a post.
The delivery service got a mixed reaction from TODAY anchors. Savannah Guthrie said she would sign up in a second.
"Not only put my groceries away, feel free to grill up that chicken while you’re there," she said.
But Matt Lauer said allowing strangers inside your unattended home could temp some people to act unethically: "'Oh, 'I unloaded your jewelry, also.'"
The concept may not appeal to everyone, the company admits.
"Certainly not right away," Eddleston said. "But we want to offer customers the opportunity to participate in tests today and help us shape what commerce will look like in the future."