Can You Use WIC Online? States and Stores That Accept It

You can use WIC online, but only if you live in one of the states running a federal pilot program and shop at a retailer authorized to accept eWIC cards over the internet. Most states still require you to swipe your card at a register in person. Where online ordering does work, you browse WIC-approved items on a participating retailer’s website or app, pay with your eWIC card at checkout, and either pick up your groceries or have them delivered.

Where Online WIC Shopping Is Available

The first wave of pilot states included Washington, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.¹ Since then, Kansas, New York, Mississippi, Indiana, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Connecticut have launched or begun developing pilots, along with the Navajo Nation and Sipayik tribal programs.

Availability inside a pilot state is often patchy. Some programs run only with specific retailers or in certain regions. Check with your state or local WIC agency, or the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, before you plan an online shop.² Many state WIC apps and benefit portals show whether online ordering is live where you live.

Retailers That Currently Accept WIC Online

Walmart is the most visible option. It accepts online WIC orders from cardholders in Washington and Massachusetts, with expansion planned to other states.³ Hy-Vee serves the Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska pilots. Safeway participates in the District of Columbia. Several smaller and regional grocers take part in their state’s project.

Instacart does not accept WIC. The company has worked with the National WIC Association on food-access advocacy, but you cannot use your eWIC card through Instacart. This trips people up because Instacart does take SNAP EBT in many areas, and the two programs run on completely different rules.

A store that accepts eWIC at the register in person is not automatically set up to accept it online. Look for a dedicated WIC page on the retailer’s website or app that explains how to add your eWIC card as a payment method.

Why the Rollout Is So Limited

Federal regulation at 7 CFR 246.12 requires WIC transactions to happen in the presence of a cashier, which effectively blocks online purchases under normal rules. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 gave USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service temporary authority to waive that requirement for state agencies running online pilots.⁴

The window to request a new waiver closed on September 30, 2024. Approved waivers stay in effect until September 30, 2026, or until FNS finishes evaluating the pilots.⁴ No additional states can join through the waiver route.

USDA published a proposed rule in early 2023 that would permanently remove the barriers to online WIC shopping. The proposal noted that online shopping would not be mandatory for states and that timelines would vary based on contracting, technology, and resources.¹ If finalized, it would eventually open online WIC to every state that wants it.

One more thing worth knowing about how WIC works: your benefits are not a dollar balance the way SNAP is. Each participant receives a monthly food package tied to their life stage, with specific quantities of milk, eggs, juice, cereal, whole grains, beans or peanut butter, and, for infants, formula and baby food. The one exception is fruits and vegetables, which come as a cash-value benefit (CVB or CVV) you can spend up to a set monthly dollar amount.⁵ Every item in your online cart has to match your state’s approved list in the exact brand and size your benefits allow, which is why retailer systems need more work to support WIC than they did for SNAP.

How To Place an Online WIC Order

The steps mirror regular online grocery shopping with a few WIC-specific additions. Walmart’s process, which is the most publicly documented, works like this:

Create a customer account on the retailer’s website or app, using information that matches your WIC profile.
Add your eWIC card in the payment settings. Only one WIC card can be used per order.³
Shop for WIC-eligible items. Participating retailers usually flag which products qualify. Check your current balances first so you know what quantities you still have.
At checkout, select your eWIC card. The system automatically allocates eligible items to your WIC benefits. Anything not WIC-covered, plus delivery fees or service charges, needs a second payment method such as a debit or credit card.³
Enter your four-digit PIN when prompted to authorize the WIC portion of the transaction.

Benefits come off your card when the store processes the order for fulfillment, not when you first submit it. You can choose pickup or delivery depending on what the retailer offers, but your delivery address or pickup location has to sit within the state that issued your benefits.³

Substitutions, Returns, and Pickup Timing

Substitutions get complicated with WIC. Any replacement item has to be on your state’s approved product list in the same or lesser quantity. If a smaller size is substituted, the difference is credited back to your eWIC card.³ Retailers are generally expected to get your consent before making a swap, because an unauthorized substitution could spend your benefits on something you can’t use.

Returns work differently than with regular groceries. WIC items cannot be returned for cash or credit. With a receipt, you can exchange a WIC item for another unit of the identical item, and that’s the whole menu.³ Know this before you order, because you will not get benefits back for something you decide you don’t need.

If you choose pickup and don’t collect your order on time, the retailer will typically hold it about 24 hours before canceling. Benefits are refunded to your eWIC card as long as you’re still inside your monthly benefit period. If the hold runs past your benefit expiration date, those benefits are gone.³ WIC benefits expire at the end of each month, so ordering on the last day leaves no room for a delay.

Checking Your Balance Before You Shop

Because your benefits track quantities of specific items rather than a running dollar total, look up what you have left before you fill an online cart. A few ways to do it:

The bottom of your most recent WIC store receipt lists remaining quantities by food category.
Your state WIC app or web portal (WICShopper or a state-branded equivalent) shows current balances in real time.
The eWIC customer service number printed on the back of your card can confirm your balances by phone.

Balance accuracy matters more online than in a store. In person, you can put an item back on the shelf if the register rejects it. Online, an order that exceeds your remaining balance can fail at checkout or force changes that delay fulfillment.

If Your State Isn’t in a Pilot Yet

Most WIC participants still shop in person at authorized grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Your eWIC card works like a debit card at the register: the cashier scans items, the system checks each product against your state’s approved list, and approved items come off your monthly balance.²

If you’re waiting for online WIC to reach your state, check with your local WIC office periodically. USDA’s proposed permanent rule, if finalized, would let any state move forward once its systems and retail partners are ready.¹ Until then, state WIC apps and the WICShopper tool can at least help you verify approved products and balances before an in-store trip.

1
Federal Register. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children WIC Online Ordering and Transactions and Food Delivery
2
Food and Nutrition Service. WIC: USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
3
Walmart. WIC Online
4
Food and Nutrition Service. Flexibilities to Support Outreach, Innovation, and Modernization in WIC
5
Food and Nutrition Service. WIC Food Packages