Walmart is taking aim at one of Amazon’s biggest benefits, fast shipping, by using its stores to speed up delivery.
Amazon Prime is one of the biggest advantages Amazon has, providing free two-day shipping on many products. Many of its competitors have struggled to match its ability to get products in customers’ hands so quickly.
Walmart is preparing to just do that, however, with plans to use its stores to speed up delivery for online shoppers. The company’s decision comes amid one of the most unique holiday seasons, as many shoppers turn to online shopping as a result of COVID-19.
The overall experience should be relatively seamless for most customers, while shipping times may be reduced to as little as same day.
“While our customers won’t see a change in the app or a new service they need to select, they will notice that they aren’t finding themselves checking for shipping updates or sweating arrival times of gifts,” writes Tom Ward, Senior Vice President, Customer Product. “They simply notice their orders are arriving super-fast, even the same day, and maybe in a Walmart bag from a store rather than a Walmart box from Walmart.com.”