Further heightening the online grocery war between Amazon, Walmart, and a host of other grocery retailers, Walmart is significantly expanding its Online Grocery Delivery service.
In early February, Amazon began offering free two-hour delivery of Whole Foods’ groceries for customers of a few Whole Foods’ stores.
Amazon already offers one-hour and two-hour delivery of Amazon groceries to Prime customers in numerous metropolitan markets across the United States.
While the option for customers to have groceries – including fresh seafood – delivered is currently available in six markets, Walmart said the service will grow to more than 100 metro areas across the U.S. by the end of the year. Walmart will be able to reach 40 percent of U.S. households via its delivery service by the end of 2018.
“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,” said Tom Ward, vice president of digital operations for Walmart U.S. “Today, we’re expanding this promise by helping even more customers save time and money without leaving their homes.”
Walmart utilizes crowd-sourced delivery services and 18,000 personal shoppers, with thousands more being added this year, according to the retailer. These associates must complete a three-week training program learning how to select the freshest produce and the best cuts of meat for online grocery customers, Walmart said.“Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country,” added Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.
Walmart’s Online Grocery Delivery service costs USD 9.95 (EUR 8.04), with a USD 30.00 (EUR 24.25) minimum order.
In addition, the retailer will add its Online Grocery Pickup service, which allows customers to order their groceries online and pick them up in stores without getting out of their cars, to an additional 1,000 Walmart stores this year, bringing the total number of locations where the service is available to 2,200.
