Getty/Scott Olson
- Walmart has entered into a partnership with Instacart to give Sam's Club stores in three markets same-day delivery.
- The service will later roll out across the US.
- It won't require a Sam's Club membership, but will carry Instacart's standard fees.
- It comes as Sam's Club, and Walmart as a whole, continually ramp up the chase for online dollars.
Sam's Club's goods can soon be at your door in an hour or less.
Walmart's warehouse bulk shopping subsidiary will now offer same-day delivery via Instacart in as little as an hour, the company announced in a release. The partnership will start in three areas - Austin, Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and St. Louis, Missouri - but will expand throughout the US later in the year.
Nearly all of Sam's Club offerings will be available on Instacart, including grocery items, everyday goods, and even small appliances.
"Instacart is a trusted partner by so many customers, we are thrilled to be launching this service with them," Sam's Club's head of omnichannel and in-club product, Sachin Padwal, said.
Customers do not need any kind of Sam's Club membership to use Instacart to shop the store, but members can enter in their ID numbers to gain access to special pricing and other benefits. The delivery charges Instagram usually imposes also apply.
The new service comes as Walmart has turned its focus to getting its bulk-shopping subsidiary further entrenched online. Earlier in February the company announced its plus Sam's Club membership tier will now have the added benefit of free shipping. Sam's Club also announced it would turn some stores out of the over 60 that closed in January into e-commerce distribution warehouses.
The future of grocery and online shopping is increasingly looking like same-day or otherwise quick delivery. As Amazon emphasizes and beefs up its two-hour Prime Now delivery, more and more grocers are teaming up with Instacart to hedge against it.
Instacart already has deals with Sam's Club bulk competitor Costco, and large grocery chains like Albertsons and Kroger. Instacart now partners with most of the top grocers in America. Walmart's discount stores and supercenters have mostly focused on implementing pickup locations for online grocery orders.