Walmart wants to use its legion of delivery workers to take a bite out of DoorDash and Uber Eats.
The big-box chain struck a food-delivery partnership with Inspire Brands-owned Dunkin’ that will start with 150 locations in Walmart stores and expand to most of the 10,000 Dunkin’ locations across the US, Walmart said on Thursday.
Walmart is moving onto turf long dominated by DoorDash and Uber Eats, both of which already work with Dunkin’.
The retail giant’s push into restaurant delivery marks a significant evolution of its business model: Rather than simply using its vast store network and Spark drivers to deliver its own merchandise, the company is positioning itself as a broader local-commerce platform.
“By expanding restaurant delivery beyond our stores, we are offering a value and convenience proposition that is unmatched,” said Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president, e-commerce fulfillment transformation, in a press release.
On Thursday, it described itself as “a rapidly emerging contender in the restaurant delivery business.”
Walmart will face stiff competition from established services with built-in brand recognition and operational experience. Those delivery players, meanwhile, are trying to expand their reach and improve efficiency.
Uber’s proposed $14.8 billion acquisition of Delivery Hero would expand the company’s international reach, from Latin America to Asia. And DoorDash is making deliveries using self-driving robots — sometimes with a little help from humans.
The Dunkin’ partnership will allow customers to order a coffee or donut through Walmart’s app or website “alongside their paper towels, milk and household essentials,” Cathey said.
Walmart started testing food deliveries from restaurants located within its stores earlier this year, Business Insider reported in May.
In June, the retailer confirmed its entry into restaurant delivery with a Subway partnership. The sandwich chain operates about 1,400 locations within Walmart stores.
The Arkansas-based chain has stores within 10 miles of 90% of the US population, it said on Thursday. Many of those stores are also close to dozens of restaurants, positioning the retailer to bundle orders from those establishments with items that customers want delivered from Walmart.
Since 2018, Walmart has also grown its Spark delivery service, which relies on hundreds of thousands of independent contractors to deliver orders from its stores. Spark and its gig workers have increased Walmart’s delivery speeds as more retailers, including Amazon and Target, deliver orders in as little as a few hours.
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