Walmart is removing the $35 order requirement for its Express delivery service just a few months after scrapping the same minimum order rule from its Walmart+ subscription service. The move from Walmart is the latest development in the retailer’s bid to attract more shoppers to its e-commerce offering. Walmart’s growth in the e-commerce segment has been higher than Amazon in the last three fiscal quarters of the pandemic as the company has attracted scores of shoppers to its grocery pickup service during the pandemic.

Walmart’s Express delivery allows customers to get items, food or non-food, delivered to their doorstep in two hours or less. Like Walmart’s pickup and delivery service, there is no markup on items — an item is priced the same as it is on the shelf. Express delivery costs $10 on top of the existing delivery charge. Walmart+ members simply pay the $10 Express fee.

“Many customers use Express delivery for when they’re in a pinch, whether it be a missing ingredient for a weeknight dinner or a pack of diapers,” said Tom Ward, SVP of customer product at Walmart. “Customers told us sometimes the items they needed in a hurry didn’t meet the minimum, so we’re removing it, making it even easier for customers to get what they need when they need it.”

Express delivery is currently offered in nearly 3,000 Walmart stores, reaching nearly 70% of the U.S. population. It is one of several no-contact pickup and delivery options at Walmart. Several of Walmart’s other e-comm options continue to carry a $35 minimum, however: grocery pickup, regular delivery and Walmart+ delivery.

Walmart has also been pushing to create more local fulfillment centers in its stores.

In January, Ward wrote in a blog post, “Our customers love the speed and convenience of pickup and delivery, and we’re committed to finding faster ways to serve them, which is why we’re scaling the number of stores that will also serve as local fulfillment centers. We’re already planning dozens of locations, with many more to come.”

Source: Walmart’s New Strategy to Beat Amazon | Progressive Grocer