Walmart bought a shipping company for same-day deliveries in NYC

Providing fast and, ideally, free delivery is a feature customers have come to expect from online retailers and it's one that Amazon does quite well. But in its ongoing battle with the retail giant, Walmart has acquired a startup that will allow it to offer same-day delivery in New York City.

In a blog post today, Walmart announced its purchase of Parcel -- an NYC-based same-day delivery service that allows customers to schedule deliveries within two-hour windows that are convenient for them. Parcel has been handling deliveries for companies like Chef'd and Martha & Marley Spoon and Walmart says it will continue to work with its existing clients. But Parcel will also begin handling same-day deliveries for both Walmart and Jet.com. Jet.com, which Walmart purchased last year, has been testing free same-day delivery for some items in NYC, but Parcel's infrastructure will allow the company to expand those offerings.

Walmart has played with a few ideas when it comes to providing cost-effective ways to provide fast delivery. It offers grocery deliveries via Uber and Lyft in some regions. It's also began testing a service that recruits Walmart employees to deliver packages to customers on their way home. And recently, Walmart starting testing out an option that would give delivery drivers access to a customer's home so that groceries ordered online could be put in the fridge if the customer isn't home.

Neither company revealed how much Walmart paid for Parcel, but a source told Recode that it was less than $10 million. While Parcel stands to boost Walmart's same-day delivery prowess in the New York City area, it still has hefty competition from Amazon which offers same-day and two-hour delivery in a number of regions.