By Saeed Anslow, VP, Omnichannel & Online Grocery, Walmart Canada
As Canadians changed their shopping behaviours and their needs shifted through the pandemic, we accelerated our investments in e-commerce with a simple goal: making the experience simpler, faster and more convenient for our customers.
Since announcing our $3.5 billion investment in infrastructure and enhancing the customer experience in June 2020, we’ve been blazing ahead on speed and innovation. In 2021:
- We saw a 195% increase in the number of stores offering Walmart home delivery of online grocery orders
- The number of Supercentres offering online order pickup rose to 99%, up nearly 30% from just one year prior
- 65,000 items became available on walmart.ca for pickup in four hours or less
Since Laurent Duray, our Chief eCommerce Officer, shared about how we plan to win in eCommerce last year, I’m proud to say that our journey has continued and our teams have been working hard by making convenience, speed and technology a priority.
This year, we’ve made significant changes towards making the customer experience better, simpler and faster.
Here are a few new services and offerings I’m proud to share that are benefiting our customers.
Express pickup
Walmart is the first major grocery retailer in Canada to offer express pickup, with orders available in 2 hours or less.
No other major grocery retailer is offering customers this level of speed or choice, and we’re working to increase pickup speed through implementing new technology and hiring more omnichannel associates.
This means that, whether you need last-minute items to toss on the barbecue – or the BBQ itself – we're here for you when you need us.
Faster delivery speeds and lower fees
We’re offering our fastest delivery speeds and lowest delivery fees yet, delivering on the convenience and every day low prices customers expect from Walmart.
For customers who prefer delivery, we’ve expanded availability of next-day and same-day online grocery delivery to 295 stores – 75% of Canadian households are now able to access this offering. And we’re getting faster: 2-hour delivery is now available across the country in select markets, with even faster service to come.
We’re implementing new technology to increase speed, transparency and accuracy
Walmart is investing in infrastructure, including technology and processes to improve our omnichannel offering and experience. Recent updates to our customer experience include Preferred Substitutions, Live Order Tracking and Mobile Check-In.
- Preferred Substitutions: live now in all stores, allow our online grocery customers to pre-select substitutions and save their preferences for future purchases. Nothing should surprise you about your online grocery order – other than how fast, easy and convenient it was!
- Live Order Tracking for delivery for both private fleet and third-party delivery: allows customers to see live map view of the driver’s location and get an ETA in real-time. Plus, driver information is included so customers can see exactly who is delivering their online grocery order.
- Mobile Check-In: allows customers to alert us that they’re on the way to pick up their order, using the Walmart Canada App. Our associates receive alerts as they approach the store, so their order is ready to go and loaded into their vehicle in 5 minutes or less after arrival.
What’s Next?
And we’re not stopping there.
The past year has been transformative for omnichannel at Walmart Canada. And momentum continues to build – we know we can continue to personalize the customer experience, expand our services and implement new technology to truly make our offering best-in-class.
