Dive Brief:
- Walmart on Tuesday said it’s expanded its delivery hours. With Late-Night Express Delivery, customers who order by 9:30 p.m. will get their orders delivered by 10 p.m., the company said in an announcement. The retailer previously offered delivery until 8 p.m., a company spokesperson told Retail Dive.
- Late-night service is the latest addition to Walmart’s pickup and delivery options. Walmart says it can deliver within 30 minutes to 90 minutes with Express Delivery. The retailer also offers On-Demand Delivery, which allows customers to choose a time that best works for them, whether that’s the same day or the next day.
- The retailer also highlighted its Live Shopper feature, which it started testing in May. The feature allows customers to text the order picker in real time to make last-minute additions or substitutions as their order is being fulfilled. Walmart says they want it to feel “like you’re texting a friend to grab you something while they’re at the store,” in an effort to further personalize the experience.
Dive Insight:
Walmart’s online pickup and delivery is currently available at over 4,000 stores nationwide, and now the company is expanding services to late-night delivery.
“We’ve all been there,” Tom Ward, executive vice president and chief e-commerce officer for Walmart U.S., said in an announcement. “The workday is finally finished, dinner and the dishes are done, when suddenly it hits you: You don’t have a gift for tomorrow’s party, cookies for the school fundraiser, or, the ultimate nightmare, you’ve run out of your favorite coffee pods.”
Retailers are focusing more on buy online, pick up in store, curbside and home delivery services as customers continue to prioritize speed and convenience. Walmart’s e-commerce sales continue to surge, with Sam’s Club seeing 18% online growth in Q2, led by curbside.
In February, Walmart said its store-fulfilled delivery sales nearly tripled over the last two years, and the company was seeing more than $1 billion a month in that category, sister publication Supply Chain Dive reported.
The company on Tuesday also highlighted its InHome delivery service. First launched in 2019, InHome can be added to Walmart+ memberships and allows Walmart to deliver orders to a customer’s garage, kitchen counter or fridge. InHome will also pick up returns and take them back to the store. Walmart says InHome is currently available in 46 markets, including Miami, Dallas and San Francisco, covering 35 million households.
