Walmart GoLocal: Last-Mile Delivery for Retailers

Walmart Launches GoLocal Delivery Service for Merchants

Walmart has unveiled a new business venture, Walmart GoLocal, designed to extend its delivery capabilities to a wider range of businesses. This service empowers both large and small-scale merchants to utilize Walmart’s established delivery network for customer order fulfillment.

Merchants gain flexibility through various delivery options, encompassing scheduled and on-demand services, including same-day delivery. They can also scale their delivery reach to accommodate fluctuating customer demand.

Built on Walmart’s Existing Infrastructure

GoLocal leverages the infrastructure Walmart initially developed to support its own rapidly expanding delivery services. Over the past three years, Walmart has focused on enhancing its in-house Express Delivery service, guaranteeing delivery within two hours or less.

Currently, Express Delivery offers over 160,000 products across approximately 3,000 stores, reaching close to 70% of the U.S. population. Walmart now intends to make these capabilities accessible to other merchants nationwide through GoLocal.

Delivery Operations and the Spark Driver Program

While GoLocal provides merchants access to Walmart’s last-mile logistics network, initial deliveries won’t necessarily be carried out by Walmart employees.

Instead, the last-mile delivery will be managed by independent contractors through Walmart’s Spark Driver program. These drivers also handle Walmart’s same-day grocery deliveries.

Unlike the same-day grocery service which incorporates third-party delivery providers like Roadie, DoorDash, and Uber’s Postmates, GoLocal will operate exclusively with Spark Drivers.

Future Expansion and Innovation

Walmart intends to progressively expand GoLocal to include deliveries performed by Walmart associates utilizing electric vans, currently being tested in Northwest Arkansas.

These vans will facilitate deliveries for merchants with larger items unsuitable for Spark Driver vehicles. Furthermore, Walmart plans to integrate emerging technologies like drones and autonomous vehicles, already being tested within its Express Delivery service, into the GoLocal framework.

Walmart’s Vision for GoLocal

“We’ve worked hard to develop a reliable last mile delivery program for our customers,” stated Tom Ward, Senior Vice President, Last Mile, Walmart U.S. “Now, we’re pleased to be able to use these capabilities to serve another set of customers – local merchants.”

He continued, “Whether delivering goods from a local bakery to auto supplies from a national retailer, we’ve designed Walmart GoLocal to be customizable for merchants of all sizes and categories so they can focus on doing what they do best, leaving delivery speed and efficiency to us.”

Merchant Eligibility and Integration

Merchants of any size, from small businesses to national retailers, are eligible to participate in GoLocal. Participation in Walmart.com’s marketplace is not a requirement.

GoLocal focuses solely on last-mile delivery and does not involve warehousing or fulfillment of third-party inventory; merchant inventory remains at their own locations.

Technical integration is necessary for retailers to utilize GoLocal. Walmart provides an API that connects to existing commerce platforms, triggering delivery dispatch upon order placement and collecting delivery feedback.

Widespread adoption could provide Walmart with valuable local delivery data, potentially enhancing its own delivery operations and informing decisions regarding fulfillment center locations – a significant competitive advantage.

Current Status and Pricing

Walmart has already secured partnerships with several national retailers for GoLocal, but is currently unable to disclose their identities.

Pricing details remain undisclosed, as GoLocal offers a white-label solution with customized pricing based on each retailer’s specific requirements.

Part of a Broader Strategy

This service represents one of several initiatives Walmart is undertaking to generate revenue by providing services to other retailers. Recently, Walmart announced plans to offer access to its e-commerce technologies to retail businesses.

This aligns with Walmart’s overarching strategy to monetize its internal technologies and services, previously used exclusively for its own operations.