Walmart explains why it offers fewer items for next day delivery, compared to Amazon

Walmart is not trying to match the number of Amazon items to the next day's shipping, for good reason.

The retail giant announced last month that it was offering customers in Phoenix and Las Vegas to offer for the first time, with no membership fees, approximately 220,000 items listed on his website. It is expected that the company will expand to approximately 75% of US customers by the end. of the year. Walmart also announced plans to add hundreds of thousands of items for next day delivery.

Walmart's fast delivery is only available for a small group of items compared to Amazon, which announced last week that Prime members, who pay an annual membership fee of $ 119, will be eligible for a free delivery of a day on more than 10 million products.

Despite the big difference, it seems that Walmart is not rushing to match Amazon's delivery the next day. At the company's annual meeting of shareholders in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart's e-commerce CEO, Marc Lore, said Friday that it would be too expensive to offer a delivery on next day for all its products.

"We certainly think that the extent of the assortment is critical," said Lore in response to a question. "… We think that now offering the 200,000, but reaching hundreds of thousands more, accounts for a very high percentage of sales made. And if we can offer this experience the next day consistently without any membership fees, we believe this value proposition is very compelling. "

Lore said it was a "compromise" to offer fewer items for overnight delivery.

"Once you've exceeded the top, say, hundreds of thousands, or millions of SKUs, with overnight or next day delivery, it's becoming exponentially more expensive," said Lore.

"There is a limited dollar pool and you have to decide where to invest in this valuable accessory," added Lore. "Are you investing beyond the 80% turnover? Do you use the speed there? Or do you take that money and put it in a grocery delivery the same day?"

Walmart announced on Friday that it was going even further in delivering its same-day shopping by giving customers the option of asking a partner to place their errands in their fridge when they're not home. The distributor has announced that the service, called InHome Delivery, will be rolled out this fall for more than a million customers in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Missouri and Vero Beach, Florida.

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At the same time, Amazon has announced that it has started offering a one – day shipping on a multitude of products in April and continue to add millions of items, but the exact date of full deployment of its plan to delivery has not been revealed. Primary members are not required to meet a minimum purchase amount for the new overnight delivery option. Previously, Amazon offered a one – day shipping on certain items and a same – day free delivery to those whose orders went up to $ 35 or more.

Walmart customers must meet a minimum of $ 35 purchase to qualify for next day delivery.