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Walmart to offer online grocery shopping with Google Assistant
Walmart customers once again will be able to voice-order their groceries with Google Assistant, another bid by the brick-and-mortar store to compete with Amazon. The retailer announced the partnership on Tuesday, and said it would gradually roll out the feature in the next few weeks. The development comes after Walmart unceremoniously left Google Express, Google's online shopping tool, back in January, reportedly to develop its own Google Assistant shopping feature.
Walmart will offer autonomous grocery deliveries in Arizona
Walmart is expanding its experiments with self-driving grocery deliveries courtesy of a new trial in Surprise, Arizona. In the wake of its partnership with Ford, the retailer's latest pilot will use startup Udelv's autonomous cargo vans "custom-made" for food drop-offs.
Kroger adds driverless vehicles to its grocery delivery fleet
Earlier this year, Kroger teamed up with the self-driving startup Nuro for a grocery delivery service, and in August the company began piloting an autonomous delivery service in Arizona. At the time, the deliveries were made by a self-driving Toyota Prius fleet with safety drivers on board. But now, Kroger is adding Nuro's R1 vehicle to its fleet and the move introduces a driverless component to the company's autonomous delivery service.
Sam’s Club expands same-day grocery delivery through Instacart
Sam's Club, Walmart's members-only warehouse stores, will start offering same-day grocery delivery at half of its US locations by the end of October. The service will expand this month to more than 100 Sam's Club locations, serving nearly 1,000 zip codes.
Oklahoma City stores will deliver groceries with autonomous vehicles
Next year, Oklahoma City residents will be able to have their groceries delivered to them by an autonomous vehicle. Udelv announced this week that a new partnership will bring its self-driving delivery vehicles to the city's largest local chain of grocery stores, which includes supermarkets such as Uptown Grocery, Buy For Less, Buy For Less Super Mercado and Smart Saver. Ten vehicles are scheduled to be delivered to the stores by the end of June 2019.
Walmart relaunches Jet.com with same-day grocery delivery in NYC
Walmart purchased Jet.com back in 2016, a move likely aimed at helping the retailer compete with rival Amazon. Now, Walmart has relaunched the site with new features. Going forward, Jet.com will now cater more towards city dwellers, and the site's images and offered products will be tailored based on the customer's location. This localization is kicking off with New York City, but TechCrunch reports that it will roll out to more cities as well. Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC are up next.
Kroger starts testing self-driving grocery delivery in Arizona
You now have a chance to try Kroger's self-driving grocery delivery... if you happen to live in the right part of Arizona. The chain has launched its driverless delivery pilot at a single Fry's Food Stores location in Scottsdale, giving you a chance to receive foodstuffs courtesy of Nuro's autonomous vehicles. Order through the Fry's website or app and the robotic courier can deliver either the same day or next day for a $6 flat fee. You'll have to live in the same 85257 ZIP code, so you can't make them drive across town just to satisfy your curiosity.
Kroger offers free grocery delivery for orders over $35
Today, the popular grocery chain Kroger announced a new service called Kroger Ship, which provides fast and free grocery delivery for orders above $35. For orders under that price, the fee is $5. The program is launching first in Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville and Nashville, and there are plans to expand it over the next few months.
Grab tacks grocery delivery onto its ride-hailing service
Grab, the ride-sharing company that devoured Uber's business in Southeast Asia, has announced that it's also getting into grocery delivery. Just like Uber in the US and other Western countries, the Singapore-based firm already offers quite a few options other than pure ride hailing in the region, including food delivery and electronic money transfers. Clearly, though, it's still looking for more ways to put its driver network to good use. Grab has teamed up with Southeast Asian grocery delivery provider HappyFresh to launch GrabFresh as part of its strategy to give partners access to its technologies. That means HappyFresh will essentially be using Grab's driver network and payment services to deliver groceries to its customers.
Amazon makes Prime Pantry its latest monthly subscription option
Amazon is making changes to how its Prime Pantry service is priced. Rather than the flat $5.99 fee per box for Prime members of yore, starting today it'll cost you $4.99 each month for unlimited deliveries and free shipping on orders over $40. As Windows Central notes, if you aren't a Prime member, the per-order fee is bumping up by $2, and that higher fee will apply to anyone whose orders don't meet the $40 minimum. What if you're already an Amazon Fresh member? Nothing will change, from the sounds of it.
DoorDash will deliver groceries from Walmart in Atlanta
Walmart's latest tech trick is delivering groceries via DoorDash. Except instead of this being a Walmart offering, it's actually being led by DoorDash according to TechCrunch. End users shouldn't notice a difference, however. Logging on to the Walmart website, you can place an order, choose delivery and then your bread and produce will show up at your door. And only then will you discover it was DoorDash, not the store itself making the delivery. The pilot program is live in Atlanta currently, with no word on if or when there will be an expansion.
Walmart says its grocery delivery will hit 100 new cities this year
Walmart and Amazon's rivalry is alive and well. The former announced today that it plans to expand its Online Grocery Delivery service -- currently available in six markets -- to over 100 metro areas across the US this year. Additionally, Walmart's Online Grocery Pickup service, which is available in 1,200 stores as of now, will reach 1,000 additional stores throughout 2018. The company says that with its planned delivery expansion, that service would then be available to over 40 percent of US households.
Walmart offers same-day delivery from Sam's Club through Instacart
To combat Amazon's two-hour PrimeNow Whole Foods deliveries, Walmart is adding a similar feature for its members-only warehouse chain, Sam's Club. Through a partnership with Instacart, customers can order food and other goods from the bulk outlet and get them delivered on the same day.
Walmart’s online grocery shopping service will now accept EBT
The Amazon and Walmart rivalry continues as the latter announced today that its Online Grocery Pickup option will now be available to those using Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) credits. In June, Amazon reduced its Prime subscription cost for users receiving government assistance through EBT and earlier this year, the US Department of Agriculture cleared a pilot program that allowed Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program enrollees to use their benefits for online grocery services like AmazonFresh.
Amazon and online grocery services will soon accept food stamps
Thanks to a pilot program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, families who rely on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy groceries will soon be able to use online services like Amazon and FreshDirect. When the two-year program goes live this summer, it has the potential to improve access to healthy food choices in communities that are often lacking in options.
Amazon brings grocery deliveries to the UK with 'Pantry'
Clearly, Amazon isn't content with a small, AmazonFresh-style delivery service. The company is expanding its UK operations today with Amazon Pantry, a new way to order "everyday essentials." It's exclusive to Prime members and offers next-day delivery for more than 4,000 products, including basic food, drink, beauty products and cleaning supplies. The service isn't meant for fresh produce -- you can't order a pack of bacon or some bananas -- but rather cupboard regulars like cereal and tinned soup. As you pick items from Amazon's store, you'll see a "Pantry box" beginning to fill. The exact dimensions aren't clear (they're probably flexible) but Amazon says each one can hold 20kg. The first box in your order costs £2.99 to deliver, followed by 99 pence for each additional box. These prices are on top of your Prime membership and what you'll pay for each individual item.
Target takes on Amazon with same-day grocery delivery of its own
Amazon may already offer grocery delivery, but Target is looking to take on the online retailer when it comes to same-day drop-offs. To power its grocery delivery effort, Target is teaming up with San Francisco-based startup Instacart, a company what already works with Costco, Whole Foods and others. Unlike AmazonFresh that requires a $299 annual fee, Instacart's pricing starts at $4 per order and varies depending on size. Google's food delivery service, Google Express, is also set to begin testing a grocery option in two US cities this year, so the options for shopping from the couch could continue to grow. Right now, the service will only be available in Target's home city of Minneapolis and there's no word on when, or if, it'll expand to other areas. [Image credit: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images]
