Walmart Canada Expands Same-Day Grocery Delivery

Walmart Canada is now among the online grocers offering same-day delivery throughout the Toronto area, and will be among those delivering groceries in Winnipeg starting Sept. 27.

Partnering with San Francisco-based third-party delivery service Instacart for the pilot program, the Mississauga, Ontario-based mega-retailer will be able to get orders to shoppers' doorsteps in as little as an hour. Previously, it delivered only to certain parts of the Toronto area, and at press time, did not at all in Winnipeg. Click-and-collect, however, is currently available at certain Toronto-area stores and all Winnipeg locations.

Rollout to additional markets will be based on customer engagement and adoption of the platform, Walmart Canada said.

"Canadian families are busy, and saving time is as important as saving money," said Lee Tappenden, president and CEO, Walmart Canada. "By teaming up with Instacart, we’re providing our customers with express home delivery of fresh, quality groceries at Walmart’s low prices every day in as little as an hour."

To use the new service, customers download the Instacart app or visit its Canadian website to find their local Walmart Supercentre and place their order. Instacart personal shoppers will shop on the customer’s behalf for Walmart’s fresh selection of groceries, including fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and seafood, dairy and baked goods, deli items, frozen foods, health and beauty products, household supplies, pet food, baby food, diapers and more.

This solution is part of a suite of services including grocery pickup and home delivery offered by Walmart to help its customers shop where, when and how they want. Walmart is continually looking for ways to add convenience for customers without compromising on quality products at low prices every day.

The deal comes eight months after Instacart acquired Toronto-based ecommerce platform provider Unata, a deal intended to help the U.S. service expand its presence in Canada and work with Canadian grocers.

Meanwhile, other major players have accelerated efforts to expand their online shopping offerings, particularly after Seattle-based ecommerce giant Amazon bought Whole Foods in June 2017, reported Canadian Grocer, a sister brand of Progressive Grocer. For instance: 

• Metro started rolling out delivery in Quebec earlier this year and plans to expand it to Ontario in 2019 
• Sobeys partnered with U.K. online grocer Ocado earlier this year to build its delivery business starting in Toronto by 2020
• Loblaw signed on with Instacart late last year to introduce delivery in Vancouver and Toronto and plans to expand it in other markets

Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 410 stores and employs 85,000 associates.