Walmart Canada has launched Walmart Now, an Instacart-powered rapid delivery service for grocery and convenience items.
Under a pilot in the greater Toronto area, customers can place online orders and receive their goods in as soon as 30 minutes, Mississauga, Ontario-based Walmart Canada said Friday. Described as a “virtual convenience” store, Walmart Now is driven by the Carrot Storefront solution in the Instacart Platform e-commerce suite, with fulfillment handled by participating Walmart stores.
Walmart Canada said nearly 4,000 of its most-shopped items are available to customers via Walmart Now, including fresh groceries, pantry items, snacks, and household staples like pet, baby and personal care items, among other categories. Products are picked and delivered from 10 Walmart stores in the Toronto area.
Walmart Now is accessed directly at a Walmart-branded landing page in the Instacart Convenience Hub, as well as through Walmart.ca.
“Launching Walmart Now, our new Canadian convenience offering featuring our quickest delivery speeds, is proof that Walmart Canada is here to drive change in the e-commerce space,” Laurent Duray, chief e-commerce officer at Walmart Canada, said in a statement. “We’re nimble, we’re determined and we’re here to change the way Canadians shop online with Walmart. Piloting 30-minute delivery is a milestone in our road map to making it faster, easier and more convenient than ever to shop with us.”
Walmart Now is accessed directly at a Walmart-branded landing page in the Instacart Convenience Hub, where consumers also can find Walmart via search, as well as through Walmart.ca. Instacart unveiled the Convenience Hub last September in tandem with The Kroger Co., which launched a 30-minute delivery service dubbed Kroger Delivery Now. Instacart also rolled out 24/7 delivery at selected retail partners with stores open 24 hours or extended hours.
San Francisco-based Instacart noted that it has partnered with Walmart Canada since 2018 and provides grocery delivery in as soon as an hour from more than 250 Walmart Canada stores nationwide via the Instacart App and Walmart.ca, powered by Carrot Connect. Overall, Walmart Canada operates more than 400 stores across the country, and its website is visited by over 1.5 million customers daily.
Walmart Now will be accessible to about 40% of greater Toronto area households through the pilot, the companies said.
“We’re proud to grow our relationship with Walmart Canada to launch Walmart Now, a streamlined way for Canadian customers to access the groceries and goods they need from Walmart in as fast as 30-minutes,” commented Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart. “Customers today expect convenience and quick delivery paired with broad selection. We know these components are fundamental as retailers seek to build the best online grocery experience for their customers. By collaborating with leading retailers like Walmart and providing Instacart Platform solutions that are purpose-built for grocery, we’re making it easier for retailers to get customers exactly what they need, when they need it.”
