BENTONVILLE, AR - The race for America’s Next Top Grocer is on, with Amazon and Walmart continuing to go head-to-head for the top spot. Last week, Amazon seemed to jump ahead after its in-store lockers found at Whole Foods locations proved successful in increasing foot traffic to stores. But, this week, Walmart is pulling next to Amazon with its own e-commerce-brick-and-mortar fusion innovation and a possible game changer up its sleeve.

According to Business Insider, Walmart is planning on adding pickup towers to 700 stores this year as a means to reach 40 percent of the U.S. population. These pickup towers will serve as vending machines for online orders and will be paired with pickup lockers that will hold other items like televisions.

In the realm of grocery, Walmart is also testing a much larger machine with internal freezers and refrigerators to streamline its online grocery pickup service. Business Insider spilled the tea, noting that if the grocery refrigerators test as successfully as the pickup towers, it will be a game-changer for Walmart’s grocery business.

The race for America’s Next Top Grocer is far from over, and AndNowUKnow will continue to report as retailers continue to vie for the number one spot.

Walmart