Walmart ramped up the development of its two-hour delivery service last year as customers avoided stores in a consumer environment shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today the service is available at almost 3,000 Walmart stores and deploys a team of 170,000 personal shoppers to pick customers’ orders. Included in Express are food, consumables and general merchandise. Ward said that customers lean on the service “when they’re in a pinch,” such as missing a dinner ingredient or in need of a household necessity like diapers.
The rapid service rivals Amazon’s Prime Now rapid delivery service, which has been a weapon in the e-commerce giant’s arsenal for years now. At the time Walmart launched Express, Moody’s senior retail analyst Charlie O’Shea described it as part of an “arms race” in delivery speed between Amazon and Walmart.
Source: Retail Dive
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