Walmart Expands into Restaurant Delivery with Subway Partnership
Retail giant Walmart is venturing into the restaurant delivery market, starting with a convenient option for customers craving a sub sandwich. This initiative has begun with the delivery of meals from Subway locations situated within Walmart stores.
Tracy Poulliot, Walmart’s vice president of e-commerce and marketing, announced that the company has been offering Subway meal deliveries from its in-store restaurants for about a month. The plan is to expand this service to all 1,400 Subways located inside Walmart stores by the end of July.
According to a Business Insider report, Walmart has been testing this restaurant delivery model.
The Walmart app enables customers to order Subway meals for express delivery. During the testing phase, many users opted to combine their restaurant orders with groceries and other last-minute items, Poulliot noted.
“We’re seeing a lot of customers purchase their Subway meals in addition to their groceries,” Poulliot shared at a recent company event in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Walmart has invested significantly in its delivery business over the years, now offering rapid delivery services on a wide range of products from its 4,600 stores across the U.S. The company employs a mix of independent contractors via the Spark delivery app and store employees to fulfill and deliver orders.
Subway has been a presence in Walmart stores for approximately two decades. Damien Harmon, president of Subway North America, highlighted the benefits of this delivery service in a recent video presentation, stating it provides “a new avenue for growth and gives us another way to meet our customers where they are.”
Walmart executives hinted at potential expansions of the restaurant delivery service, mentioning a possible integration with Sparky, Walmart’s AI shopping assistant. This would allow customers to place restaurant orders using AI prompts, Poulliot explained.
In addition to Subway, other national chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s, along with regional chains like Wienerschnitzel, have locations within some Walmart stores. Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of digital fulfillment transformation, suggested the possibility of extending the delivery service to restaurants outside of Walmart stores, mentioning, “You can draw a circle around most Walmart stores, and almost all quick-service restaurant brands are located within five miles.”
