Walmart to test new delivery method

DAYTON, Ohio -- Walmart is once again looking to stride ahead of competitors like Amazon in the race to offer the best grocery delivery.

The giant retailer is testing its new crowdsourced Spark Delivery, where Walmart's personal in-house shoppers will gather up orders from the store. From there, independent drivers who partner with Delivery Drivers Inc. sign up for windows of time that work in their schedules.

All drivers will be managed by Delivery Drivers Inc., including recruiting, screening and background checks, payment and accounting.

"We're saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use," said Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.

Walmart plans to stretch grocery delivery across 100 metros, covering 40 percent of U.S. households among all of its delivery methods. The pilot in New Orleans and Nashville is expected to expand to at least a few more cities within the year.

"Our customers love Grocery Pickup and Delivery -- it offers convenience paired with the everyday low prices customers expect from us," said Tom Ward, vice president of digital operations for Walmart U.S. "We're always looking for the best ways to serve them, so we're exploring a number of different options for getting groceries from our stores to the customer's front door -- some in-house, some third-party."

Story Filed By Cox Newspapers

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