BENTONVILLE, AR - The quest for Top Online Grocery Deliverer rages on, and this week Walmart is directly challenging Amazon with its latest expansion. Today, the retailer announced plans to expand its online grocery delivery option from six markets to more than 100 metro areas across the country. This will include bringing the service to over 800 stores by the end of this year, according to a report by CNBC.
“We’re saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use,” said Greg Foran, President and CEO, Walmart U.S., in a company press release. “We’re serving our customers in ways that no one else can. Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country.”
For a fee of $9.95 on $30 orders or more, Walmart’s online grocery service touts delivery as soon as the same day. The retailer also employs over 18,000 personal shoppers and counting, specifically trained to select the freshest produce and the best cuts of meat for online grocery customers, in-line with its recent food waste initiatives.
Walmart also announced its Online Grocery Pickup service is now available in 1,200 stores and plans to add 1,000 more by the end of 2018.
“Our commitment goes further than saving customers money,” said Tom Ward, Vice President, Digital Operations, Walmart U.S. “Ninety percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store, and we serve more than 150 million customers a week, which gives us a unique opportunity to make every day a little easier for busy families. Today, we’re expanding this promise by helping even more customers save time and money without leaving their homes.”
This week, Walmart also shortened its grocery supply chain by moving into the ag sector with new patents and technology.
With Walmart making aggressive moves on all fronts, will the retailer pull to the front of the grocery pack? AndNowUKnow will continue to report as the story unfolds.
