Shoppers on Walmart‘s website or app might be able to get household essentials, groceries and more in a matter of a couple hours — thanks to the retailer’s new Express Delivery service.
Yesterday, the company announced the rollout of a two-hour shipping service launched amid the coronavirus pandemic. Following its pilot in 100 stores since mid-April, Express Delivery will expand to nearly 1,000 locations in early May and will be available in almost 2,000 outposts in the coming weeks.
Through the service, customers will be able to order across more than 160,000 items in the big-box chain’s inventory of food, groceries and everyday necessities, as well as toys and electronics. It costs $10 on top of the existing delivery charge.
“We know our customers’ lives have changed during this pandemic, and so has the way they shop,” said chief customer officer Janey Whiteside. “We also know when we come out of this, customers will be busier than ever, and sometimes that will call for needing supplies in a hurry.”
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Shoppers who want to make use of the service can go to the Walmart.com/Grocery tab or the retailer’s app and search their ZIP codes to see if Express Delivery is offered in their area. One of Walmart’s team of 74,000 couriers will then pick up the items from a local outpost and deliver them to the customer.
Walmart’s new delivery service competes will likely compete directly with rival retail giant Amazon, which has long offered two-hour shipping to Prime members. Both merchants have been classified as “essential” in the U.S., allowing them to continue operating even in the states and localities that have implemented stay-at-home orders.
