The race for delivery to your door within 30 minutes is gaining momentum.
On May 28, Walmart said it was expanding its 30 minutes or less delivery service. Originally available in seven cities, expedited service is now available in 33 cities across the United States.
The news comes two weeks after competitor Amazon said it was expanding its 30-minute delivery services to dozens more cities, with plans to expand to other cities by the end of the year.
“Customers are looking for faster, easier ways to get what they need at that moment,” Tracy Pouliot, chief ecommerce officer for Walmart US, said in a press release. “We’ve been delivering orders in 30 minutes or less for over a year, and today 26% of our express deliveries are already arriving in that time frame.”
The demand for ‘need it now’ is growing
Walmart said the availability of 30-minute or less delivery “builds on Walmart’s long-term convenience strategy and broader Express Delivery offering as customer demand grows for more immediate and frictionless shopping experiences.”
Walmart said customers can shop from more than 100,000 eligible items, including groceries, pantry staples, baby essentials, cold and flu medicine, household supplies, pet food, electronics and prescription delivery.
The retailer said it completed “millions of deliveries” in 30 minutes or less to more than 19,000 ZIP codes nationwide during the first quarter of the year.
“We’ve seen a trend in ‘need it now’ items across a variety of categories, reflecting the many ways customers are using fast delivery for urgent needs and last-minute opportunities,” Walmart said. The retailer said this includes things like batteries and party supplies, dog food and last-minute meal solutions.
Rapid delivery is the new battlefield, said Neil Saunders, retail analyst at research and analytics firm GlobalData.
“Although such speed is not needed all the time, consumers like this option when they need a product urgently,” Saunders told USA TODAY. “Therefore, retailers that do not offer the service miss out on essential missions and also risk pushing customers to other platforms for other purchases.”
“Walmart and Amazon are both pursuing ecommerce, and each doesn’t want to let the other dominate,” he said.
Where is 30 minute delivery available?
The service was originally available in these seven cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Tampa, and Salt Lake City.
Walmart said it’s now available in these 33 cities, with more expansion opportunities to come. In markets where the service is available to an address, customers will see “Delivery in 30 minutes or less” on the Walmart website or app.
- Allentown, Pennsylvania
- atlanta
- Austin
- Bozeman, Montana
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
- chicago
- dallas
- denver
- Dover, Delaware
- Eureka, California
- Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Freeport, Illinois
- houston
- Kalispell, Montana
- lincoln, nebraska
- Merced, California
- minneapolis
- Modesto, California
- Naples, Florida
- Oklahoma City
- Orlando Florida
- philadelphia
- surprise
- Reading, Pennsylvania
- Sacramento, California
- Salisbury, Maryland
- salt Lake City
- St. Louis
- tampa
- Ukiah, California
- Vallejo, California
- Warner Robins, Georgia
- York, Pennsylvania
Delivery service 30 minutes or less is available to Walmart+ members for a $10 fee. Customers also have the option of express delivery (in an hour or less), on demand (in as little as three hours), and scheduled (choose a delivery window that works best for your schedule).
Before the expansion was announced and during Walmart’s earnings call on May 21, John David Rennie, Walmart’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said that sales in the United States using store-fulfilled delivery have more than doubled over the past two years. More than 36% of orders in the first quarter were delivered in less than three hours, and the retailer can reach nearly 60% of the US population in 30 minutes or less.