Walmart, Nextdoor Launch Neighbors’ Helping Initiative

Walmart and Nextdoor have joined forces to make it easier for neighbors to help each other during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The largest retailer in the world has collaborated with Nextdoor, the social networking service, to launch “Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” per an announcement on Thursday (April 23).

The collaboration allows Nextdoor members in the U.S. to ask for help or offer assistance to people in their communities by shopping at Walmart. 

Under the initiative, the support network promises to make it easier for at-risk residents to coordinate the pickup and delivery of groceries, medications and other essentials with neighbors who have planned a shopping trip, contact-free.

Nextdoor said they’ve seen a sevenfold increase in people joining to help one another in the last few weeks, from checking on elders and running errands to those who simply need a helping hand. 

“We’re inspired every day by the kindness of people around the world who are stepping up and helping out,” said Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar in a statement. “In recent weeks, we’ve been blown away by the number of members who have raised their hands to run an errand, go to the grocery store or pick up a prescription for a neighbor. We’re grateful for Walmart’s partnership to make this important connection between neighbors around vital services, and we’re proud to come together to ensure everyone has a neighborhood to rely on.”

Nextdoor is a privately held company based in San Francisco with backing from Benchmark, Shasta Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Riverwood Capital, Bond, Axel Springer, Comcast Ventures and others. The site has members in 145,000 neighborhoods in the U.S. Last fall, PYMNTS reported that the company closed on a $170 million Series F funding round.

The initiative follows other efforts by the Arkansas-based retailer, including checking out with Walmart Pay and its contact-free, curbside pickup and delivery services. Walmart has nearly 4,800 stores in the U.S. Last year, they had $514.4 billion in revenue.

“I’ve seen firsthand the countless ways our Walmart team is working together during this challenging time, leading with humanity, compassion and understanding to serve our customers,” said Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer, in a statement. “We’re continuing to do that through our new program with Nextdoor. We’re connecting neighbors to each other so that more members of our communities have access to essential items, while limiting contact and the number of people shopping in our stores.”