Walmart has unveiled a new delivery pilot program.
The mega-retailer will be kick-starting a self-driving car pilot program in Scottsdale, Ariz. Walmart is partnering with Cruise, a self-driving car company that utilizes a fleet of all-electric vehicles.
Starting next year, customers in the Scottsdale area will be able to place an order from a local store, which will then be delivered via one of Cruise’s self-driving vehicle. According to a corporate blog post by Walmart U.S. senior vice president of customer product Tom Ward, the process is designed to be contact-free.
This is the latest salvo in Walmart’s efforts to ramp up its delivery options. The company launched Express Delivery in April 2020 and has scaled it to more than 2,800 stores, according to the blog post.
Earlier in 2020, Walmart announced a series of new delivery initiatives, focused on drones. One of the projects was a partnership with DroneUp and Quest Diagnostics, which is designed to deliver COVID-19 self-collection kits in Las Vegas and Cheektowaga, New York.
Walmart has also partnered with Flytrex to deliver groceries and household items by via and has partnered with Zipline to deliver health and wellness products in the Northwest Arkansas region.
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