Walmart truck fleet is ready for all sorts of deliveries
What new winds are there in the online grocery industry?
Walmart is reporting big financial gains and most of them come from ever-growing grocery pick-up service that retailer has been so focused on.
Grocery delivery from Walmart popularity is expanding
Grocery pickup leads to the expansion of grocery delivery, which seems the logical next step as more and more consumers desire extra convenience in their lives.
Walmart’s low prices are celebrated/20off.com
Walmart is scaling grocery shopping in every direction possible: delivery, pick-up from the store, the creation of pickup towers and lockers, and even delivery into customers’ homes is in the developmental stages.
Walmart grocery pickup service is becoming very popular
This latest one is a bit tricky due to privacy and security concerns, but Walmart is going forward with first test runs scheduled for this fall in select areas. Soon there will be a usual practice to come home and find all your shopping done for you, groceries at home and in the fridge.
Bakery is part of Walmart fresh offers
For those of us that won’t be willing to drive to the grocery store even for a pickup, Walmart is preparing one-day delivery for $35 and unlimited deliveries for $98 per year.
Lots of seafood choices at Walmart
The unlimited deliveries is the most recent focus point for Walmart as the retailer believes it can be the most popular new program destined to change the way we get our groceries and the new way for Walmart to make money.
Cupcakes from Walmart look party ready
- Free Delivery on Grocery Order $50+ with code FRESHCAR
- $10 OFF Your Grocery Orders of $50+ with code WOWFRESH
- Pickup at The Store with any Order $50+
What is the competition doing?
Amazon is trying to keep up with Walmart with discounts
The competition is not asleep either. Amazon has its Prime membership program, where members pay $119 per year and get free delivery of everything, including groceries.
Whole Foods is promising 2-hour grocery delivery and $10 off/20off.com
Target is moving forward too with its partnership with Shipt, a service of unlimited deliveries for $99/year.
Target is also offering pickup
Finally, Instacart, which kind of started all this delivery business, reduced its annual price from $149 to $99. So yes, the competition is fierce and there is no room for mistakes.
In order to win this game, retailers strive to provide a very clear path for customers – pay one time and you will never have to worry about any delivery fees. This is especially important for groceries because this segment of all commerce, online and physical, is growing fastest, with expected jump by 18% this year, bringing in $20 billion.
Saving time for groceries saves money
While it’s hard to beat Amazon at their online order and delivery game, Walmart, Target, and Kroger can utilize their physical presence to increase sales. Kroger, for example, saw their online grocery sales increase by 66% and jumped into a third place overall with that.
Walmart prices are hard to beat
Consumers love a choice of how much they want to pay for grocery delivery and more of them come to try it online due to this liberty of choice. Target’s Shipt is adding another $10 per order for extra convenience, but Walmart is going the other way and adding an option for unlimited delivery for extra fee on top of already existing $10 per order.
Can unlimited delivery be profitable for retailers?
The delivery itself is the costliest part of the entire ordering and receiving process of grocery shopping online. All the changes and new implemented delivery methods can increase the number of customers and orders, but it will likely result in $1 billion loss for Walmart. This loss includes more than just groceries, but it’s most definitely due to the cost of transportation and freight, which simply can’t be offset by increasing orders of apples, milk, and bread.
Baked goods at Walmart ready for delivery
Walmart is not the only retailer reporting losses despite significant gains in business. Amazon incurred $28 billion of delivery loss last year all due to shipping. Retailers like Walmart can price their groceries below Amazon, but many other consumer benefits are hard to compete with, so there is a constant need for innovation and for finding new ways to please the consumers.
Pickup spots at Walmart are ready and convenient