Walmart to take another shot at in-home grocery delivery service this fall

Walmart is hoping to one-up Amazon in the battle to dominate in-home delivery services — by bringing in groceries.

Starting this fall, Walmart customers in select cities will have the option to have their groceries delivered directly into their fridges after ordering online, The Verge reported on Friday. The company previously tested a similar service, using smarthome accessories to allow users to monitor the delivery. Only 1 in 5 shoppers said they'd be interested in the service, reports CBS News, but Walmart, undeterred, is revamping its test service. While Amazon delivers packages to homes, garages, and trunks, groceries are an untapped market for the two competitors.

Walmart's InHome will use the company's own vehicles and workers equipped with wearable cameras, allowing customers to watch the deliveries remotely. While Walmart employees will be able to enter homes to make deliveries, the retail giant still hasn't revealed how employees will gain access to homes or the exact price of the delivery fees.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Only Walmart workers who've been at the company for at least a year will be qualified to apply for the in-home delivery position and if accepted, they will go through extensive training — from how to pick out the best groceries to how to organize them properly in the fridge, Fox Business reports. Through the new service, employees will also pick up returns for items purchased on Walmart.com.

Walmart InHome will launch this fall and will only be available in three cities: Kansas City, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Vero Beach, Florida.