Walmart Tests New Grocery Delivery Service As Answer To Amazon Flex

Walmart Inc. on Wednesday announced it is testing a new grocery delivery service that will allow independent drivers to make home deliveries.

The retail giant is beginning its trial run of Spark Delivery, a crowd-sourced delivery program that uses an in-house platform which will let independent drivers sign up for deliveries that would match up with their route. Spark Delivery is currently undergoing test runs in Nashville and New Orleans with more locations to come later this year.

The service works with independent drivers from management firm Delivery Drivers Inc. (DDI) to complete the customer deliveries. DDI, a third-party company, manages matters such as contact driver recruitment, payments, background checks, and accounting for drivers. Drivers will earn money on each delivery and receive a gratuity payment from customers, according to Reuters.

"We’re saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use," said Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.

"We’re serving our customers in ways that no one else can. Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country. Spark Delivery is one way we’re exploring how to get quality groceries from our door to our customers’ doors."

Spark Delivery is Walmart’s latest attempt to compete with its rival Amazon, which in October 2015 debuted its Amazon Flex delivery platform which allows drivers to sign up and deliver packages to customers.

Walmart’s already has a way to get goods to customer's doorsteps called Grocery Delivery, a service which allows patrons to make online orders via the Walmart Grocery App. It is currently available to many major cities across the country including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Miami and Seattle for $9.95 and a $30 minimum order. Walmart said that it would deliver groceries to 100 cities in the U.S. and 40 percent of U.S. households by the end of the year.