Walmart Inc. will take part next year in a pilot program that lets people in two states pay for their WIC-eligible groceries online using their electronic benefits card.
The WIC online ordering pilot will be available to Walmart customers in Massachusetts, where it's expected to serve nearly 115,000 WIC participants, and Washington state, where it may serve nearly 120,000.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, typically referred to as WIC, provides food and food vouchers to low-income families. It's separate from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, a Nebraska-based research institution, is funding the online ordering project with a three-year grant in a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees WIC.
Walmart has let customers pay for online grocery orders with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards since 2019.