Dive Brief:
- Meijer has started allowing shoppers in Michigan who participate in the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to use their benefits for purchases through its app or website, the retailer announced Tuesday.
- The retailer is offering free delivery service to WIC participants in the state. WIC customers can also use Meijer’s pickup service, which is free for orders of at least $35.
- The grocer is the first retailer in Michigan to accept WIC benefits from online customers, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Dive Insight:
All Meijer stores in Michigan are offering online shopping to WIC shoppers through the program, the state agency said.
Customers need to add their WIC benefits card to their mPerks loyalty program account for the grocer’s e-commerce system to highlight WIC-eligible items for them when they shop.
Shoppers can buy WIC and non-WIC foods in the same transaction by using a different payment method for items not covered by the program.
“This partnership with Meijer represents an important step forward in modernizing the WIC shopping experience by expanding digital access, reducing barriers, and providing families with greater flexibility to redeem their benefits,” Michigan WIC Director Christina Herring said in a statement.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it intends to expand the online shopping initiative to other retailers at an unspecified future point.
More than 187,000 women, infants and children participate in Michigan’s WIC program each month, according to the agency. Nationwide, over 6.7 million people received WIC benefits in fiscal year 2024, the latest year for which data is available, according to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration, which oversees the program.
Michigan is joining several other states in allowing WIC beneficiaries to use their benefits to pay for online grocery purchases, including Massachusetts and Washington state, where Walmart started allowing participants to place online orders in April 2025. In addition, Hy-Vee accepts WIC benefits for online order in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.
