Walmart announced Tuesday the launch of GoLocal, a new delivery service that will allow smaller businesses to use its delivery drivers to deliver orders to customers. GoLocal is built on Walmart's rapidly growing fleet of delivery drones and driverless vehicles as well as gig workers. The company claims that it has reached nearly 70% of the population.
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Walmart CEO John Furner stated that customers expect speed and reliability in an age where businesses need to partner with service providers who understand their needs.
Walmart wants to be the provider even though there are plenty of companies that can do that job. There is a huge profit to be made from the ability to deliver goods in all sizes and shapes right to your door, as demonstrated by the ongoing global pandemic. Uber and DoorDash were quick to dominate the delivery market, while Instacart expanded into grocery, makeup and office supplies. There is always the threat of Amazon Logistics, Amazon's last-mile delivery platform. It has quietly been growing its ranks over recent years.
In this race to deliver everything to everyone, gig workers were the ones who got the short end. A survey of hundreds of delivery drivers who sped around New York City this spring revealed that they consistently earned less than the $15 minimum wage. These workers earned an average of $6.50 to $7.90 per hour, not counting tips, according to the survey.
Although everyone agreed that these workers were a vital social safety net for city residents who suddenly became homebound for several months, no one was willing to pay them a decent living wages.
TechCrunch says that Walmart will continue to rely on the same gig workers for deliveries if drones or autonomous vehicles are not available. Walmart stated that purchases will be handled by Walmart's Spark Driver program, which routes Walmart customers to third-party drivers for delivery. The company is looking to move that responsibility in-house as GoLocal grows. Walmart hired associates in Northwest Arkansas earlier this year to manage its fleet of delivery vanslarger vehicles that can handle larger purchases than can be fit into a Spark Drivers personal vehicle.
Tom Ward, senior vice president at Walmart, stated that we have worked hard to create a reliable last-mile delivery program for customers. Walmart GoLocal is customizable to allow merchants of any size and category to focus on what they do best and leave the delivery speed to us.
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Walmart customers will undoubtedly do the same thing as those who have used Uber, Dolly and Roadie to deliver their goods. Walmart's slow DoorDashification in a world that is increasingly about copying the best features of your competitors is almost inevitable.
