The USDA task force recommends a grace period for benefit expiration that would give shoppers three days after they place an order to complete it.

“This will hopefully make adjustments and refunds a little easier and was definitely a lesson learned from our SNAP colleagues,” said Melinda Newport, task force chair and Chickasaw Nation WIC's director of nutrition services. Meanwhile, New Mexico is blazing the trail for offline states, where WIC participants have to use their cards with point-of-sale (POS) systems at stores, with its own pickup pilot. The project is slated to last through July 2023. The agency also teamed up with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, a nonprofit research center, on a grant project to pilot WIC online ordering at select Walmart, Hy- Vee and Buche Foods stores.

WIC totaled 6.24 million participants in fiscal year 2021, according to USDA data.Īnd like SNAP, the WIC program faces a complex road toward full e-commerce implementation. Late last year, a USDA task force released a roadmap for modernizing WIC.

Following in the footsteps of SNAP online purchasing, making digital aisles and online payment available to participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is the new frontier for expanding online grocery access.Īs with SNAP, allowing WIC participants to shop digital aisles could unlock millions of new shoppers online for grocers.

Wic shopping