Walmart Introduces GoLocal, a White-label Service

The US-based retail giant Walmart announced a new venture on Tuesday. Under the name of Walmart GoLocal, this latest venture will extend its delivery platform to other businesses to deliver their products. The company addressed in a press release that these services will be available to companies of any size. It said that it expects the new venture to be a “top white-label delivery service provider.”

“In an era where customers have come to expect speed and reliability, it’s more important than ever for businesses to work with a service provider that understands a merchant’s needs,” said John Furner, president, and CEO of Walmart US. The company says that will leverage its delivery capabilities and target nationwide delivery with help of its growing network to provide competitive pricing to its customers.

Walmart has various delivery programs for its chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores, and departmental stores. Now, it wants to expand its services to businesses and expects to add on innovative offerings in the coming years. The innovation involves using drones and autonomous vehicles to deliver goods. “Be it delivering goods from a local bakery to auto supplies from a national retailer, we’ve designed Walmart GoLocal to be customizable for merchants of all sizes and categories so they can focus on doing what they do best, leaving delivery speed and efficiency to us,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president, last mile, Walmart US.

The company says that it has already partnered with retail clients and adding more merchants to its new venture. Walmart’s new offerings come after it announced that it will commercialize its technology capabilities to other businesses. With this, customers can leverage its Walmart Marketplace and Fulfillment Services to offer two-days shipping across the country. “Commercializing our technologies and capabilities helps us sustainably reinvest back into our customer value proposition,” said John Furner.

Walmart told The Verge that its pricing will vary depending on the clients’ requirements. GoLocal is driven by the technology and capabilities that the company is currently using to power its  Express Delivery service. This service offers delivery of over 160,000 products and can reach 70% of the US population. The logistics area of GoLocal will be handled by Walmart’s Spark Drive program. Under this program, one can work as a part-time driver of the company and earn money through delivering the goods. This program is similar to Amazon Flex that pays you to deliver packages.

To use the Walmart GoLocal, the merchants need to integrate an API provided by the company. Thus, every time a retailer gets an order, this order will be pinged to the GoLocal driver. The latest venture is one of the initiatives of the company to diversify its revenue pool. Walmart’s commercializing its services is helping to broaden its network and profits. As of now, it has not revealed the pricing of its service. GoLocal is not the only service in the US that is offering white-label solutions. Companies such as DoorDash and Postmates are providing similar services.

Walmart’s Revenue Growth

Last week, the company posted its Q2 earnings. Walmart reported a revenue of USD 141.05 Billion in this June quarter, beating Wall Street expectations. The discount giant said that its e-commerce sales grew 6% since last quarter. It said that it expects its e-commerce sales to reach USD 75 Billion this year. Walmart’s net income slipped to USD 4.28 Billion from 6.48 Billion since last year.

Company Also Lending a Hand Hand to Aid People of Afghanistan

The US companies including Walmart and Airbnb are providing help to the people of Afghanistan after it collapsed due to the reign of Taliban. In a blog post, the company said that it is committed to donating USD 1 Million to the three non-profit organizations to support Afghan refugees. These three non-profits are Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and No One Left Behind.