Walmart has joined forces with Uber and Lyft to test out a new grocery delivery service they have in mind!
Walmart’s new grocery delivery program with the help of Uber and Lyft is set to begin in about two weeks in Denver and Phoenix. Head of e-commerce for Walmart, Michael Bender, mentioned in a blog post the retail giant will be joining with Uber and Lyft to test out a possible grocery delivery service. Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon will be discussing the program at Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting.
The move comes as a challenger to Amazon’s delivery program, which has also expanded to a grocery delivery service known as AmazonFresh and is available in several cities in the US. Walmart launched a similar program earlier in the year where they partnered with a Sam’s Club in Miami to deliver groceries. Walmart’s new service would also include an online pick-up program to help boost their already strong retail monopoly.
Walmart’s decision to bolster their focus on e-commerce to compete with Amazon is a smart decision, and one that many retailers in the US should consider if they value their survival. The program would work by customers placing an order online and Walmart employees would get the order together. The employees would then call an Uber or Lyft driver to deliver the order. Customers would pay $7 to $10 for delivery charge to Wamart.
Michael Bender says in their blog post,
“We’ll start small and let our customers guide us, but testing new things like last-mile delivery allow us to better evaluate the various ways we can best serve our customers how, when and where they need us.”
I am glad to see Walmart expanding their operations to a more contemporary service. Just the other day I was thinking, why isn’t there a delivery service for everything. I think this move by Walmart is just the first of many we will see from a lot of retailers.
Source: The Verge
