Walmart, Deliv Shut Down Mobile Payments Friendly Partnership

February 14, 2019         By: Steven Anderson

One of the greatest advances Walmart has made in the last several years is same-day delivery of purchased products. Its grocery delivery has been especially prized in some corners, and was accomplished thanks to a partnership between Walmart and Deliv. Now, new reports have emerged to note that Deliv is no longer part of the operation.

The reports suggest that Deliv actually did the shutting down, using a 90-day termination notice that launched back in early January. Walmart subsequently noted that it was partnering with seven other companies to keep its delivery operations afloat, including Postmates and DoorDash. Four of the seven deals had been set up that same month, according to word from Reuters.

Deliv pulled its business, according to the reports, because it was increasingly frustrated with Walmart’s speed in responding to and setting up orders. Drivers had to wait up to 40 minutes upon arriving at Walmart to pick up an order, since Walmart, not surprisingly, prioritizes regular customers over delivery drivers during regular business hours.

Word from Walmart, via spokeswoman Molly Blakeman, noted that both sides agreed to shut down. Both sides were looking to learn, Blakeman noted, and Walmart ultimately found that Deliv just wasn’t the right provider. Same-day delivery, Blakeman further noted, was available at 800 of the 5,000 Walmart locations in the US, but there were plans to double that figure by the end of this year.

Somewhat contradictory reports from Reuters, however, asserted that order volume was not as high as was hoped for, though Blakeman reportedly noted that there were no issues with order volume.

Certainly, Deliv would have a problem with 40-minute lags between a driver arriving for pickup and actually getting the order. That’s likely to throw a serious kink into the rest of the day’s schedule, and that’s something Deliv likely couldn’t endure for long. It’s one thing to have temporary delays built into things, one bad day where orders take longer than normal to fill, but if it became an everyday thing as it sounds like it did, that could be a problem.

Still, it’s likely that same-day delivery will be a thing, as evidenced by Walmart’s seven other agreements to keep the platform going. Deliv may be out, but Walmart’s still going.