Walmart Partners With Instacart For Same-Day Grocery Delivery In US

Walmart Inc. WMT is running a pilot with Instacart for same-day deliveries in a few areas in the United States, CNBC reported Tuesday.

What Happened

The hypermarket chain will partner with Instacart in four markets in Calfornia and Oklahoma, according to CNBC.

Instacart already has existing partnerships with retailers such as Aldi, Target Corporation TGT, Costco Wholesale Corporation COST, Kroger Co KR, and Walmart’s Sam’s Club. 

The move is anticipated to help Walmart compete with Amazon.com, Inc’s AMZN delivery services such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime and its Whole Foods stores.

Why It Matters

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged the rising competition from companies like Shopify Inc. SHOP and Instacart in front of the House Judiciary Committee in an antitrust hearing last month, CNBC noted. 

The world's richest person said such companies “enable traditionally physical stores to put up a full online store almost instantaneously and to deliver products directly to customers in new and innovative ways."

Walmart earlier this year started offering its customers a premium membership similar to Amazon Prime in an effort to match up to the e-commerce giant as customers increasingly go online for their daily needs.

Price Action 

Walmart shares closed 1.27% lower at $130.20 on Tuesday, and added 0.2% in the after-hours session.

Photo courtesy: Walmart, via Fickr