(Bloomberg) — Walmart Inc. has signed up Home Depot Inc. as a customer of its new delivery business, expanding the home-improvement retailer’s capabilities for same-day and next-day service.
Home Depot’s online shoppers will be able to use the Walmart GoLocal service in select markets in the coming weeks and the coverage area will be expanded later in the year, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. The service will focus on items that “easily fit in a car,” such as tools, paint and fasteners, they said.
The two retail giants have been top performers during the coronavirus pandemic as Americans spend more on groceries and home goods. Now, as consumers increasingly have the option to eat out and travel, analysts are questioning whether the retailers can hold on to all the customers they picked up.
“This partnership brings us even closer to our goal of offering same-day or next-day delivery to 90% of the U.S. population,” Stephanie Smith, Home Depot’s senior vice president of supply chain, said in the statement.
Home Depot is Walmart GoLocal’s first retail client, according to the statement. Walmart is offering the delivery service to other companies in an effort to squeeze more profit out of its logistics capabilities. Unveiled in August, the business extends Walmart’s efforts to diversify its operations away from its core retail operations amid intense competition from Amazon.com Inc. and other rivals.
John Furner, chief executive officer of Walmart’s U.S. operations, said the partnership with Home Depot was part of the retailers’ “shared goal” of expanding local delivery, including in rural and suburban areas.
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