Walmart adds delivery vet Rina Hurst to oversee its GoLocal platform

Walmart on Monday said it has hired Rina Hurst, a former Shipt executive, as vice president of its last-mile delivery platform Walmart GoLocal.

In her new role, Hurst will oversee the strategic direction, operations and general management of Walmart GoLocal as it continues to add retailers, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant said in a statement.

Hurst had served as chief business officer of Target-owned delivery service Shipt since April 2020. Before that, she spent nearly a decade in senior-level posts with Minneapolis-based Target.

“Rina brings extensive last-mile and delivery expertise and a track record of building strategic partnerships and accelerating growth,” Jennifer McKeehan, SVP of end-to-end delivery for Walmart U.S., said in a statement. “Rina’s expertise in retail delivery will be a strong complement to the team as we continue to innovate and expand how we serve leading retailers with delivery.”

Walmart debuted GoLocal in August 2021, about a year after the retailer launched Express Delivery from its stores, saying it would bring its delivery expertise to the new white-label delivery as a service offering, enabling other merchants to take advantage of Walmart’s robust delivery capabilities.

Since then, Walmart said the platform has grown to support third-party retailers across more than a dozen retailers, carrying out millions of deliveries across more than 18,000 zip codes.

Related:Walmart GoLocal’s Newest Client Focuses on Specialty Food, Beverage Retailers

“Walmart’s size and scale are unmatched, and I’m excited by the opportunity to further leverage that scale to make an impact for Walmart GoLocal clients,” Hurst said in a statement. “The delivery space is constantly evolving, and I’m looking forward to working with the team to expand Walmart GoLocal’s capabilities and build new relationships with retailers looking for reliable and customizable local delivery solutions.”

While at Shipt, Hurst was responsible for strategic retail, brand an innovation partnerships and helped drive order volume, expand the platform’s delivery footprint and recruit hundreds of retailers to the company’s delivery services.