Walmart's Sam's Club Partners With Instacart to Deliver Groceries, Combat Amazon
Sam's Club, a division of Walmart, is partnering with Instacart to offer same-day delivery, adding yet another major grocer to Instacart's arsenal as it tries to compete with Amazon.com. In a joint press release, Sam’s Club and Instacart said the service will be available to shoppers in Austin and Dallas-Forth Worth in Texas, and St. Louis, who can place orders for everything from fresh produce to small appliances without a membership. Sachin Padwal, Sam's Club's vice president of omnichannel and in-club product, says, "Instacart is a trusted partner by so many customers, and we are thrilled to be launching this service with them."
Total Retail’s Take: This is big, and I have two thoughts on the deal. One, this is another example of how Walmart is upping its game across all companies under its umbrella, with a specific focus on its digital customers. Could this be Walmart's first real test of grocery delivery for its customers? It currently has groceries available in its superstores, however, it hasn't tried grocery delivery. Instacart offers a way for Walmart to compete with Amazon in the grocery delivery space, but it's also push-back against its big-box rival Target as well. Target recently announced its acquisition of Instacart rival Shipt, enabling it to offer same-day grocery delivery.
My second thought is with this Sam's Club deal, Instacart now is partnered with the top eight grocery store retailers in the country. Instacart is quickly becoming one of the strongest competitors to Amazon since the online giant's $13 billion acquisition of Whole Foods. It will be interesting to see if the growth of Instacart begins to take market share away from Whole Foods.
