Walmart testing giant self-serve grocery kiosk

In its latest attempt to keep pace with Amazon, Walmart is piloting a self-serve grocery pickup kiosk in the parking lot of a supercenter in Oklahoma City.

Customers place their grocery order online and Walmart employees will select and bag the items and place them within the refrigerated container to keep items fresh. Customers are provided with a code to access their order from the automated kiosk.

More than 30,000 grocery items, including fresh produce, meats, and dairy products, are available for ordering and pickup. The service is free, but requires a $30 purchase minimum.

The big box retailer began testing online grocery pickups at its stores in 2014. It's now available at more than 750 locations across the U.S. In Canada, the service is available in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton, and a minimum order of $50.00 before tax is required.

The Walmart announcement follows the launch of Amazon's grocery pickup service in Seattle. After testing AmazonFresh Pickup on employees in March, the ecommerce giant opened curbside kiosks to members of its Prime loyalty program.

AmazonFresh Pickup allows shoppers to order grocery items — including produce, bread, meat, dairy and household cleaners  — online or via mobile. Amazon workers will have the order bagged and ready in as little as 15 minutes, and will deliver the items to the shopper’s car.