Walmart announced today that it will be expanding its $98 “Delivery Unlimited” grocery delivery service to 1,400 of its stores later this fall, and will reach more than 50 percent of the U.S. by the end of the year.
The Delivery Unlimited program lets customers pay $98 a year or $12.95 monthly to get unlimited Walmart grocery delivery orders without paying the $9.95 delivery fee per order. A pilot of the program launched earlier this year in Houston, Miami, Salt Lake City and Tampa and will now expand to the 200 metro areas where Walmart’s grocery delivery is available.
Online grocery shopping is still a small fraction of the overall grocery shopping market. A recent survey from Gallup showed that 81 percent of Americans “never” order their groceries online. But that stat actually represented year-over-year growth in online grocery shopping, especially among families with kids under 18.
This growth is the reason all the major retailers are investing in ways to facilitate and expedite online grocery shopping. Target offers a similar delivery subscription through its Shipt service, and Amazon, of course, has its Prime membership.
Walmart partners with a number of different grocery delivery services including Deliv, DoorDash, Point Pickup, Skipcart, AxleHire, and Roadie. Additionally, Walmart launched its own delivery service called Spark towards the end of last year.
And if you can’t be home when your groceries are delivered, Walmart will be happy to upsell you on its Walmart InHome service where delivery people bring your groceries into your house when you’re out and place them in your fridge (with your permission, and livestreamed so you can watch). Though that service is online trialing in Kansas City, MO, Pittsburgh, PA and Vero Beach, FLA.
Walmart already leads the pack in online grocery shopping, and by expanding its Delivery Unlimited the company is poised to extend that lead.
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