Report: Walmart, DoorDash to cease delivery collaboration

A four-year grocery delivery collaboration between a leading discounter and online delivery platform is reportedly coming to an end.

According to TechCrunch, DoorDash has decided to stop delivering groceries for Walmart. DoorDash reportedly sent Walmart a 30-day termination notice, which will end the partnership in September 2022. Sources told Business Insider that DoorDash is taking this step because the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial and DoorDash would like to focus on its long-term customers.

Although neither Walmart nor DoorDash provided comments to TechCrunch, a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider that the companies will be parting ways.

Walmart launched its collaboration with DoorDash in April 2018 with a pilot in the Atlanta metro area. At the time, Walmart said the agreement would help keep it on pace to meet its goal of providing delivery service to more than 40% of households across the country by the end of that year.

Walmart has been leveraging DoorDash’s delivery team, along thousands of its own personal shoppers, to service customers. Personal shoppers must complete a three-week training program that will teach them how to select produce and the best cuts of meat.

Even if it ends its DoorDash partnership, Walmart still has plenty of grocery delivery programs. The retailer has long offered its own proprietary home delivery service, and in August 2021 actually entered direct competition with third-party platforms like DoorDash and Instacart with the launch of a new line of business called Walmart GoLocal, which delivers goods to customers of other businesses.

The discount giant built the new service on the existing infrastructure supporting the Express Delivery same-day delivery service it rolled out in 2020. This includes drones, autonomous vehicles and market fulfillment centers.

This white-label delivery-as-a-service offering includes nationwide delivery capabilities on a range of assortment, including those with size and complex requirements, as well as the flexibility to meet varying timelines. Walmart says it will rapidly expand GoLocal to offer additional services.

And in July 2022, the discount giant began making its InHome delivery service, which delivers groceries straight to a customer’s kitchen or garage fridge, available as an optional add-on within the Walmart+ program.

Walmart also plans to expand the accessibility of its InHome delivery service to 30 million U.S. households by the end of 2022. To support this growth, Walmart intends to hire more than 3,000 delivery drivers this year, as well as build out a fleet of 100% all-electric delivery vans.

Launched in 2019, Walmart’s InHome service delivers fresh groceries, everyday essentials and other products directly into customers’ homes, including placing items straight into their kitchen or garage refrigerator.  The service also provides pick up for Walmart.com returns.

Meanwhile, DoorDash has become a major global player in the online delivery space. The company recently completed the acquisition of Helsinki, Finland-based online delivery platform Wolt Enterprises Oy in an all-stock transaction. This purchase brings DoorDash to operations in a total of 27 countries, including the U.S.

[Read more: DoorDash expands across the globe]