Walmart grocery delivery expanding
Service will be available to 40% of U.S. households by the end of the year
Walmart shoppers living in major cities around the country will be able to get their groceries delivered to their door by the end of this year as the retailer expands a service that could give it a leg up in its ongoing battle with ecommerce giant Amazon.
Already available in six U.S. markets — Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Denver and San Jose — the service will become an option for more than
40% of U.S. households in more than
100 metro areas, Walmart says. “We will be able to deliver fresh groceries to the doorsteps of millions of Americans,’’ says Tom Ward, vice president of digital operations for Walmart U.S.
Walmart will provide the locations of the new markets as service begins over the next few weeks.
Shoppers can make their purchases on the grocery section of Walmart’s website or through the Walmart Gro- cery app. A minimum purchase of $30 is required, and customers will pay a $9.95 delivery fee.
If they place their delivery order by
1 p.m., customers can get their fresh produce, seafood or other grocery items dropped at their door within three to four hours.
The grocery aisle is emerging as a critical battleground between retailers and e-commerce giant Amazon, which made an aggressive push into the space last year when it purchased Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion.
Walmart has been leveraging its own network of stores — enough that one is within 10 miles of 90% of U.S. households — by offering shoppers the ability to pick up groceries ordered online at
1,200 locations.
That number will jump to more than
2,200 by the end of 2018. Roughly 800 Walmart stores and more than 18,000 employees will fulfill the online grocery orders, with services such as Uber helping to ferry the groceries to customers’ doors.