Walmart Canada piloting dark stores for rapid groceries
Walmart Canada pilots rapid grocery delivery via SkipTheDishes
SkipTheDishes has launched a rapid delivery pilot with Walmart Canada within Vancouver and Edmonton.
The pilot leverages “dark stores” (local Skip fulfillment centers) to offer customers more than 2,000 grocery and everyday essentials in 30 minutes or less. These dark stores are equipped to process several orders per minute during peak demand.
Walmart Canada has begun offering fast delivery of grocery and household items through Canadian food delivery network SkipTheDishes.
Under a pilot program, SkipTheDishes meal delivery customers in Western Canada can place ‘Walmart Now’ delivery orders directly through the Skip app and website, Winnipeg, Manitoba-based SkipTheDishes said on Thursday.
Orders will be delivered in 30 minutes or less from Skip “dark stores” via the company’s courier network. More than 2,000 grocery, convenience and household products are available for order.
Currently, the Walmart Now through the Skip service is available to more than 82% of households in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Edmonton, Alberta, according to SkipTheDishes.
Skip customers can access the service at skipthedishes.com/brands/walmart, by searching for “Walmart Now” in the Skip App or on skipthedishes.com, or by visiting walmart.ca/grocery. Orders can be placed 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. daily, and transactions of more than $40 get free delivery.
SkipTheDishes noted that the pilot marks the first time that Walmart Canada has leveraged dark stores for delivery.
An Instacart-powered rapid delivery service, ‘Walmart Now’ was launched by Walmart Canada last June, starting in the greater Toronto area. Dubbed as a “virtual convenience” store, Walmart Now is driven by the Carrot Storefront solution in the Instacart Platform e-commerce suite, with fulfillment handled by participating Walmart stores.
SkipTheDishes-Skip Express Lane-fulfillment center
At these local Skip fulfillment centers, fresh produce, meat, poultry, baked goods and customer favorites are hand-picked on demand for every order. Products are transported by suppliers to each dark store, which SkipTheDishes said enables real-time availability, fresher products, and more customer satisfaction, in turn reducing the chance for substitutions. The company added that, during peak demand, the fulfillment centers process several orders per minute.
“We are thrilled to have such an iconic brand like Walmart Canada join the network,” SkipTheDishes interim CEO Steve Puchala said in a statement. “We’re proud to mark a new phase in rapid grocery delivery, providing Canadians with more value through offering a curated selection of products including meat, poultry, bakery and local offerings delivered right to their doorstep in collaboration with Walmart Canada.”
Since its initial Toronto-area debut, Walmart Now has served more than 40,000 customers with 30-minute delivery of groceries and convenience items. At launch, approximately 4,000 of Walmart Canada’s most-shopped items were available via Walmart Now, including fresh groceries, pantry items, snacks, and household staples like pet, baby and personal care items, among other categories.
“Expanding our Walmart Now pilot to Western Canada is an example of how we’re testing and learning to provide better, faster and more convenient service to our customers,” stated Laurent Duray, chief e-commerce officer at Mississauga, Ontario-based Walmart Canada.
Part of Just Eat Takeaway.com, a global online food delivery marketplace, SkipTheDishes connects millions of customers with more than 50,000 restaurant partners in Canada.
SkipTheDishes had delved into the grocery arena in late 2021 with the launch of Skip Express Lane service, which offers delivery of 1,500 items—including snacks, household goods, groceries, fresh produce, baby products, personal care items and everyday essentials—“at grocery store prices” in 25 minutes or less. The service made its debut in Winnipeg and London, Ontario, during the pilot phase and then in 2022 expanded to downtown Toronto, British Columbia, Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. Plans called for a total of 38 new fulfillment centers to support Skip Express Lane by last summer.
