DoorDash Ends Its Walmart Same-Day Delivery Partnership

The Walmart-DoorDash grocery delivery marriage that began in 2018 is being dissolved, both parties confirmed Monday.

“We’d like to thank DoorDash for their partnership and support of our customers the past several years,” a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement to WGB.

Said a DoorDash spokesperson, "We'd like to thank Walmart for their partnership and are looking forward to continuing to build and provide support for merchants in the years ahead with our leading Marketplace and Platform offerings."

DoorDash began same-day delivery of Walmart groceries in April 2018, the first food retail partnership for the third-party delivery platform that had, until then, largely focused on restaurants.

DoorDash said it will continue its delivery relationships with other grocers, including Albertsons, Hy-Vee and Wegman’s, noting that 14% of its customers ordered from a “non-restaurant merchant” as of December.

The DoorDash spokesperson declined to provide further details or a reason for the split.

The delivery divorce comes just days after Walmart announced moves to strengthen its in-house delivery services.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart on Monday confirmed reports that it was acquiring Delivery Drivers, Inc., the gig-labor management company that fuels its Spark Driver platform.

“We’re always looking for ways to build a better experience, and heard from drivers that working through two companies for support wasn’t ideal,” Walmart said in a statement. “Bringing driver support in-house will provide a simplified experience and we look forward to hearing driver feedback.”

Like the DoorDash partnership, Walmart launched its Spark Driver platform four years ago. The company last week said it now has “thousands of independent contractors” who drive for the retailer, making it Walmart’s largest delivery provider.

Nearly three-quarters of Walmart delivery orders are fulfilled by Spark drivers, Walmart said, reaching 84% of households.

Spark drivers also deliver orders for Walmart GoLocal, the retailer’s white label, “delivery-as-a-service” arm.

Walmart GoLocal, which launched a year ago and has since surpassed 1 million deliveries, provides delivery services to independent and regional grocers.

“I’m excited about the growth I’ve seen so far and the expectations looking ahead,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts last week, adding that the platform expects to have 5,000 pickup locations by the end of 2022. “We continue to sign up larger-scale customers, and we’re making strides on the bigger unlock, which are small- and medium-sized businesses.”