Walmart - Order Online Pay with Cash

[mirth]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/06/business/06reuters-walmart-mobile.html?hp

I didn't know this was being offered as an option. You can place an order through walmart.com and pay at a physical store within 48 hours. Here's the really interesting piece:

The size of Pay with Cash orders is 50 percent larger than the average online order, according to Wal-Mart.

When Pay with Cash customers come into a Wal-Mart store, about 40 percent of them end up paying with a card or some other form of non-cash payment, Anderson also noted. That suggests a lot of Wal-Mart customers are still concerned about using credit and debit cards online, Anderson said.

That's all totally the opposite of what I would have expected. People actually order more stuff online when they can pay for it at the store and a lot of them end up paying with a CC anyway.

[meadbelly]

I suspect we are seeing a phenomenon mostly of the shopping public at walmart, which contains a population that typically has banking services like debit or credit cards at a rate far far less than the rest of the population. That might explain the heavy use of cash. Smart on their part.

As walmart now offers their own prepaid debit cards, I wonder if they shouldn't be trying to do some sort of crossover promotion.

[MetalDog]

Count me in on the list of people who don't use cards on the internet.  Oldtimers from WG will know of my self imposed ban, but it stems more from a sense of, "If I don't need it, I won't buy it." as much as it is a statement (for me) against the pervasiveness of the internet and how all you people who put your personal lives and information out there will rue that decision one day.

[mirth]

Thing is that using CCs at a physical store is at least as risky as using them online. The data still has to be transmitted from the store to the payment processor and can be intercepted by hackers. And your information is still being stored somewhere in a database which is also susceptible to hacking. Really the only way to avoid the risks is to pay cash for everything.

[MetalDog]

Thing is that using CCs at a physical store is at least as risky as using them online. The data still has to be transmitted from the store to the payment processor and can be intercepted by hackers. And your information is still being stored somewhere in a database which is also susceptible to hacking. Really the only way to avoid the risks is to pay cash for everything.

Mirth, that answer wasn't very...mirthful. 

You are absolutely correct of course.  And the info you give out every day can be used and correlated quite easily.  I guess it's my nature to be private and mistrust those in power.

[Staggerwing]

Thing is that using CCs at a physical store is at least as risky as using them online. The data still has to be transmitted from the store to the payment processor and can be intercepted by hackers. And your information is still being stored somewhere in a database which is also susceptible to hacking. Really the only way to avoid the risks is to pay cash for everything.

Truth be told, if your PC is clean of viruses, most CC fraud is a result of your info being stolen right at the store, gas station, or restaurant. The tech needed to steal CC info is so discrete now you will never see it. Do you always cover the keypad to hide your PIN? Do you wiggle the card reader to see if it has an extra piece over the 'swiper' at the pump? Point of fact- most CC fraud is uncovered because victims patronized the same establishment and a pattern emerges. Smart thieves keep it random to avoid detection.

[mirth]

Thing is that using CCs at a physical store is at least as risky as using them online. The data still has to be transmitted from the store to the payment processor and can be intercepted by hackers. And your information is still being stored somewhere in a database which is also susceptible to hacking. Really the only way to avoid the risks is to pay cash for everything.

Mirth, that answer wasn't very...mirthful. 

You are absolutely correct of course.  And the info you give out every day can be used and correlated quite easily.  I guess it's my nature to be private and mistrust those in power.

I'm with ya on the privacy thing in general. I do try to keep a relatively low online profile (no Facebook or a lot of other social media). And it does trouble me how much can be gleaned from what I do allow to be public.

[meadbelly]

Count me in on the list of people who don't use cards on the internet.  Oldtimers from WG will know of my self imposed ban, but it stems more from a sense of, "If I don't need it, I won't buy it." as much as it is a statement (for me) against the pervasiveness of the internet and how all you people who put your personal lives and information out there will rue that decision one day.

You don't buy games?!?!

[MetalDog]

I don't.  The last game I bought was Civ IV Complete.  And that was at Target ( a brick and mortar like Walmart).  I take that back.  The last game I bought was a Total War four pack with Rome, Rome: BI, Medieval II and MII: Kingdoms.

[meadbelly]

^You are a braver man than I. (And with excellent taste.)

We have Target's here, too. Do you pronounce them Tarjay? lol

[MetalDog]

That's exACTly how we pronounce them! LOL!

[Gusington]

I try to use cash in day to day spending and online I never have any store save my info. I also only use one card. Paying off my family's credit cards was one of the better feelings I have ever had in my life. They are poisonous.