To provide customers with same-day grocery delivery, Instacart is working with Walmart Canada on a pilot in Winnipeg and Toronto. Customers will be able to order items from 17 stores with the program, according to reports.
Instacart is no stranger to Canada. The company rolled out its services in the country in September of last year. In addition, Instacart reportedly plans to expand its services “throughout the country to meet demand.”
Instacart doesn’t work with Walmart in the states, but it does have a relationship with Walmart subsidiary, Sam’s Club — that tie-up was reported in February, as Sam’s CEO, John Furner, is searching for way to help the warehouse business standout. The move is a response to news that Amazon will be leveraging its nearly $14 billion purchase of Whole Foods to offer essentially free grocery delivery to customers in range of their stores.
Months later, it was reported that Kroger was broadening its delivery deal with Instacart by gearing up to expand the number of stores where it offers the service. According to a report in USA Today in August, the service was available in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as other cities and regions.
The goal is to have the service in 120 metropolitan markets by October, which will cover 1,600 stores. Customers will be able to access the service via Kroger’s mobile app. Instacart is also now Kroger’s main delivery service, although it uses Uber and Shipt in some markets.
Earlier in August, Kroger announced the launch of a delivery service dubbed Kroger Ship, which uses third-party carriers. The offering was said to debut in Houston, Louisville, Nashville and Kroger’s hometown of Cincinnati.
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