As Walmart rolls out 30-minute delivery in select markets it’s throwing in a Subway sandwich to make its service more tasty to shoppers than express delivery from rival Amazon.
The retail behemoth on Thursday announced that customers in six states can order a Subway meal directly through the Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) app or website and have it delivered in as little as 30 minutes or less, either on its own or alongside an express delivery order transported by gig delivery drivers. Subway is Walmart’s largest in-store restaurant tenant.
Integrating restaurant delivery within Walmart’s Express Delivery service for store merchandise and groceries is designed to add another level of convenience for customers.
Subway delivery from Walmart stores is now available in select Walmart stores in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas and will be expanded to about 1,400 locations by the end of the summer, according to a Walmart news release.
Earlier in the week, Walmart said it is launching 30-minute-or-less delivery from stores across 33 U.S. markets, formalizing an ultra-fast delivery service it often already achieves with one-hour-or-less express delivery. More than 100,000 items are eligible for the 30-minute service.
The service is available in Austin, Dallas and Houston, Texas; Denver; Chicago, St. Louis; Atlanta; Tampa, Florida; Oklahoma City and several others, with additional expansion planned over time.
Walmart has regularly expanded its delivery capabilities to more communities over time as its store footprint grows. A proprietary algorithm determines which store should fulfill an order based on the basket size, driver availability and distance from the store. In the first quarter, Walmart completed millions of deliveries in 30 minutes or less to more than 19,000 zip codes.
“We’ve been delivering orders in 30 minutes or less for more than a year, and today 26% of our Express Deliveries are already arriving in that timeframe,” said Tracy Poulliot, Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S. “As customers continue to look for more immediate shopping options, we’re making this service more prominent where it’s available.”
Walmart has noticed a trend in demand for faster delivery related to immediate essential needs and last-minute occasions, such as batteries, party supplies, dog food and cold and flu medication. In grocery, customers use express delivery for forgotten items and last-minute meals, including coffee pods and canned goods.
In addition to 30-minute and Express (one hour), Walmart customers can choose from multiple same-day delivery options: 30-minute, Express (one hour), three-hour and scheduled.
In early April, Sam’s Club launched an express delivery service from local stores, with items arriving in as soon as one hour.
Last month, Amazon rolled out 30-minute delivery across four major U.S. cities and said it is expanding the service to dozens more communities this year. Amazon says people tend to buy more when they have convenient delivery options. Amazon has set up micro fulfillment centers, which hold about 3,500 popular fresh grocery, personal care products, electronics and household items, to support the ultra-fast delivery service. Amazon also offers one-hour and three-hour delivery on a wider assortment of merchandise.
New Canada delivery option
Meanwhile, Walmart’s membership program, Walmart+, is now available in Canada with unlimited same-day delivery from stores on orders over $35, free next-day and two-day shipping from Walmart distribution centers and a subscription to the standard tier of the Crave video streaming service. The membership program costs $8.97 per month or $89 annually.
Canada is the first Walmart market outside the United States to launch Walmart+. Customers that already subscribe to Delivery Pass for $89 will be automatically rolled into Walmart+.
And there was more news on the delivery front. Walmart said it completed its one millionth drone delivery as it rapidly expands drone delivery capabilities across 66 stores in four states serving five metro markets. Forty percent of the total deliveries were made in the fiscal year 2027 first quarter (February-April). The average drone delivery time is 23 minutes.
Walmart began drone delivery on a limited basis in 2021.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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