Walmart is making the latest entry into the grocery delivery wars — now an active battleground between Walmart, Amazon and Target for who can get the groceries to consumers door, fastest and for the least money. Walmart’s latest offering is “Delivery Unlimited” subscription, which will offer consumers the option of either paying $12.95 per month plan or a $98 per year for a subscription that will let them shop online and have their groceries delivered as often as they like.
The process is familiar to anyone who has ever ordered groceries through the Walmart app — and there aren’t any restrictions on delivery times. According to Walmart, it is just another payment option for online orders.
At $98 per year, Walmart’s Delivery Unlimited service is competitively priced with Target’s Shipt, which runs for $99 a year; Instacart, which is also $99; and Amazon Prime, which is $119 (but comes with a host of other services).
As of launch, it is unclear how widely available the new option is. Walmart’s firmest guidance on that point seem to be an FAQ answer that states “there’s a good chance Delivery Unlimited is in your area.” We imagine it depends on where your area is.
Walmart also does not as of yet have its own network of delivery professionals or independent contractors and instead partners with delivery providers across the U.S., including Point Pickup, Skipcart, AxleHire, Roadie, Postmates and DoorDash. The buttressing of its delivery options comes as grocery is an increasingly important revenue generator and draw or consumers to Walmart locations. Combined with growth in the home and fashion categories, it has been critical in boosting Walmart’s eCommerce performance. In Q1 2019 eCommerce was up 37 percent.
Walmart has also invested heavily in its grocery curbside pick-up program which has proved to be a powerful success with consumers. Pick up is currently in 2,450 location. As a point of comparison, delivery is at nearly 1,000 locations. By the end of 2019, Walmart plans to have expanded those counts to 3,100 stores and 1,600 stores respectively.
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