Move-over, Amazon, Walmart is getting into the instant delivery business with a new service it calls Walmart To Go.
Rolling out in four cities in Virginia, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis (with San Francisco and San Jose on deck), the service will allow same-day delivery for online customers on basic goods like toys, electronics and sporting goods.
Walmart To Go is an experiment timed to take advantage of the Holiday season, and may or may not see a broader national roll out. Customers are being charged a modest $10 delivery fee with no minimum on orders.
The company is following in the footsteps of other retailers like eBay, who are already testing the economic viability and consumer interest in same-day delivery of goods purchased online. Amazon, the leading online retailer famous for its two-day delivery service Amazon Prime, has scoffed at same-day delivery in the past, saying that it doesn't make sense for their bottom line. Walmart, however, already has brick-and-mortar retail centers pretty much everywhere, and can use those stores to deliver goods to local customers without too much difficulty.
[via CNET]
