Walmart (WMT) has been in the grocery delivery business for years.
The retail corporation offers same-day, next-day and express delivery. Same-day delivery generally takes 2 to 10 hours, while express delivery is understood to be 2 hours or less.
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It's such a massive operation that in October 2022, Walmart purchased Alert Innovation, a robotics automation company it had been working with since 2016.
Alert develops material-handling technology for automating order fulfillment.
"Further investing in this technology will enable us to leverage our store footprint -- 4,700 stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population -- for storage and fulfillment," Walmart said at the time. "For customers, this means orders can be fulfilled quickly and conveniently through pickup and delivery, giving them the items they want, when and where they want them."
Speed of delivery has become a key goal of the business.
Target (TGT) is a major player in product delivery as well. It has recently made the simple yet efficient discovery that use of larger vehicles increases delivery capacity.
"Compared with routes previously served by sedans, SUVs and minivans can deliver more than double the number of packages per route," said Target chief operating officer John Mulligan last month. "Our high capacity vans can service nearly five times as many packages. And beyond capacity, the use of larger vehicles enables further route optimization, increasing the number of packages that can be delivered per hour."
Aldi Makes a Move In the Express Delivery Space
Supermarket chain Aldi has an aggressive plan to carve out its place in fast delivery of convenience goods.
Having already launched a grocery shopping site and app, the company has now announced Aldi Express, a "virtual convenience store" that has the ability to provide 30-minute delivery of about 2,000 products.
And Aldi is focusing on impulse buying rather than full-on grocery shopping.
"With this launch, Aldi joins other grocery chains like Kroger and Publix in offering speedy delivery of convenience goods," wrote Grocery Dive on June 1. "The 30-minute service aims to fulfill a different shopping mission -- the impulse or fill-in shop -- instead of the full-basket trip that online grocery shopping has traditionally targeted."
The new service is an extension of a partnership Aldi began with Instacart in 2017. Kroger also partners with Instacart on its express service, Kroger Delivery Now.
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Aldi issued a press release June 1 spelling out the reasoning behind the move.
"We know our customers live hectic lives, and sometimes that means they don't have time to make it to the grocery store -- even for a quick trip. Through Aldi Express, we're making shopping more convenient so you can satisfy a craving or get a missing ingredient in minutes," said Scott Patton, VP of National Buying, in the press release. "Together with Instacart, we'll continue to find ways to innovate and make the online grocery experience even more effortless and accessible."
Instacart also had a few words to say about the new service.
"We're proud to deepen our partnership with Aldi through the introduction of Aldi Express. With this launch, we're making it easier for customers nationwide to get their favorite Aldi staples delivered faster than ever before," said Ryan Hamburger, VP of Retail. "We know how important it is to get what you need when you want it -- whether it's a last-minute delivery for a missing dinner ingredient, milk for the baby or simply wanting a late-night snack."
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