In an effort to bring groceries and other products to shoppers, Walmart, Ford Motor Company and Postmates plan to work together to create a delivery service that may use self-driving vehicles in the future. While Ford has said it intends to have self-driving vehicles in commercial production by 2021, vehicles driven by humans will be used for the test, CNBC reported.
Through the experimental program, which is happening in Miami-Dade County, shoppers will be able to have Postmates delivery for items ordered at Walmart. Walmart U.S. Senior Vice President of Digital Operations Tom Ward said in a blog post, “Through it, we aim to learn more about how we can take advantage of self-driving vehicles to deliver fresh groceries – hand-picked by our personal shoppers – to customers.”
According to the blog post, the retailer currently has grocery delivery available in almost 100 metro regions and “is continuing to innovate to find new ways to serve customers – better, faster and easier.”
In April, it was reported that Walmart was enhancing its grocery delivery efforts through an agreement with Postmates in an effort to bring the company’s online grocery delivery option to more than 40 percent of U.S. households. In a press release at the time, the companies said Postmates will help power Walmart’s online grocery deliveries starting in Charlotte, North Carolina and expanding into other markets in the next few months.
Walmart U.S. EVP of Central Operations Mark Ibbotson said in that press release, “Customers are busy; they are managing jobs, soccer practice, dance lessons and social schedules. So, we are on a mission to do more than keep a little extra money in their pockets. With the help of Postmates, we’re making grocery shopping even easier by bringing the everyday low prices of Walmart right to the front door of customers in Charlotte, with more areas to be added soon.”
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