Walmart’s fast-growing Spark delivery network continues to expand rapidly. The number of third-party drivers using the service tripled from June 2022 to June 2023, covering 84% of US households with 17,000 pick-up points.
But a new report suggests Walmart is struggling to efficiently process the influx of orders. Insiders say waiting times are becoming an issue for delivery drivers. One driver said he had to wait in a Walmart parking lot for the better part of an hour for an employee to bring his order to his car.
Sourcing Journal Details
Four Spark contract drivers told Insider that uncertain wait times make it difficult to determine which orders are worth taking. Walmart said the report and the examples provided do not represent most orders fulfilled by Spark.
“Orders are typically served within 10 minutes. We are focused on maximizing revenue opportunities for our drivers, so we consider the time it takes to process an order when determining the revenue for each trip. We are considering this,” a Walmart spokesperson told Sourcing Journal. “We are constantly adding new features to make the ride process more efficient and encourage drivers to continually share their feedback with us.”
Walmart said it employs technology to provide visibility to drivers through order status tracking tools and help drivers optimize their arrival time at stores. It added that it is also continually improving its order staging and dispensing processes.
Once a Spark driver accepts your order, the Spark app provides a deadline to report it to your local Walmart, which can often take up to 10 minutes. Delivery orders to the driver occur once per hour, so if a store employee takes too long to deliver, the driver will be forced to make deliveries in his next hourly delivery when orders are reduced. There is a risk that you will not be able to do so.
The retail giant appears to have developed the Spark Driver app with driver issues in mind. In June, when the Spark program celebrated its fifth anniversary, Nav Chadha, Walmart’s vice president of on-demand delivery, said recent upgrades to the program were “a direct response to driver feedback.”
For example, the order status tracking tool also includes ride and post-ride information to help drivers track their earnings progress and incentives, Chadha said.
“We’ve improved our app and earnings screens to increase transparency, giving drivers more visibility into their earnings on a weekly, daily and trip level,” Chadam said. “To reduce the potential for fraudulent use of our platform, we are also introducing in-app features. Drivers will receive a random check asking them to verify their identity or device.”
The company is aiming to expand its delivery network. At the Goldman Sachs Retail Conference last month, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said retailers want to give store associates more delivery opportunities.
“[As] Once the last mile delivery network is built, it will be possible to own more vehicles. We’re going to have our employees do more deliveries,” McMillon said. “Right now, we have a relatively small number of associate delivery workers, very small compared to what independent contractors do on various platforms, including the Spark platform. It’s the biggest part.”
Retail giant Walmart has been keen to expand its delivery capabilities beyond Spark, recently establishing a late-night express delivery service that runs until 10pm on orders placed by 9:30pm. As part of that extension, Walmart now offers delivery on more than 200,000 items. You can access his 4,000 stores in the US within just 30 minutes.
Customers who choose the late-night option can use the new Live Shopper feature to text a personal shopper in real-time to discuss last-minute substitutions or add items.
Walmart has appointed Shipt veteran Lena Hurst as vice president of its white-label delivery services platform, Walmart Go Local, to focus on delivery. GoLocal is part of her Spark delivery network, but it’s used to power last-mile deliveries at third-party retailers like The Home Depot and Chico’s FAS.
Mr. Hurst, who previously served as chief business officer at the Target-owned delivery company, will oversee the company’s strategic direction, operations and general management as it continues to scale and hire more retailers. will be in charge of.
“If we can get those last-mile orders to be bigger or more orders, or denser, then everyone wins,” McMillon said at a Goldman event. “And we can help other retailers, large and small, participate in the systemic change in supply chains that we are building.”
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