Walmart to help neighbors shop for each other during pandemic

Walmart is teaming up with a neighborhood-based social networking service to make it easier for neighbors to buy goods for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The retail giant and Nextdoor announced the launch of a program — “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” – designed to make it easier for customers to shop for their neighbors when making a trip to Walmart.
 
The program allows Nextdoor members in cities nationwide to request assistance — or offer to help someone in their community – with shopping for groceries and other essential items at Walmart. 

Here’s how the program works: If a Nextdoor member wants help shopping for needed items or wants to offer their help to do so, they can do so by visiting Nextdoor.com or logging on to the Nextdoor app. From there, members click on the “groups” tab and will see Walmart stores in their area pinned to the top of the page. 

Members will then be prompted to share a message in the group feed where they can indicate if they need help or want to help. Once members connect in the feed they can work out details of the shopping trip on the message board or direct message each other to work on the specifics. Neighbors are encouraged to utilize contact-free payment options and delivery methods.

The new initiative follows recent moves by Walmart to make other shopping services, like checking out with Walmart Pay and its curbside pickup and delivery services, contact-free. 

“I’ve seen first-hand the countless ways our Walmart team is working together during this challenging time, leading with humanity, compassion and understanding to serve our customers,” said Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer. “We’re continuing to do that through our new program with Nextdoor. We’re connecting neighbors to each other so that more members of our communities have access to essential items, while limiting contact and the number of people shopping in our stores.”

The “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” program builds on Nextdoor’s recently launched “Groups” feature which enables members to organize around a shared interest or project. Over the last few weeks, Nextdoor has seen a 7x increase in people joining groups to help one another – from checking in with the elderly and vulnerable to running errands for those who simply need a helping hand.

“We’re inspired every day by the kindness of people around the world who are stepping up and helping out. In recent weeks, we’ve been blown away by the number of members who have raised their hand to run an errand, go to the grocery store, or pick up a prescription for a neighbor,” said Sarah Friar, Nextdoor CEO. “We’re grateful for Walmart's partnership to make this important connection between neighbors around vital services, and we’re proud to come together to ensure everyone has a neighborhood to rely on.”
 
Nextdoor describes itself as the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services. It is operational in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and Canada.