Walmart plans to expand its door-to-door service to reach 30 million U.S. households by the end of the year

Wal-Mart is betting on consumers' desire for convenience in shopping, and the retailer announced on Wednesday (January 5) Eastern Time that it will expand the scale of in-home delivery services . By the end of this year, the service will be expanded from 6 million to 30 million U.S. households.

Walmart's InHome service allows Walmart employees to enter customers' homes with cameras, deliver groceries and other items, or collect returns, even when the customer is not at home.

Tom Ward, Walmart's senior vice president of last-mile delivery, said in an interview with the media: "Now you can have this ultimate convenience, as soon as you get home, the refrigerator is refilled, and video games, clothes, toiletries are put on the workbench." If you start processing your return on the Walmart App, we'll also pick up the item the next day and provide you with a return service. ”

Walmart also gave a demonstration of the InHome service. After registering for InHome, customers can place an order on the Walmart App and choose InHome delivery, and the delivery of the goods will be done by an InHome delivery agent. As soon as they arrive at the customer's home, the delivery man uses a one-time entry code to open the customer's door or garage through the InHome app (combined with smart door-entry technology) and place the goods in the appropriate position.

In addition, the app notifies customers at every step, and the camera on the clerk vest records the entire delivery process, which customers can view through their mobile phones within a week after each delivery.

Business intelligence agency Insider Intelligence estimates that InHome is a $93 billion grocery delivery market. Walmart's InHome service is $19.95 per month at no additional cost, which makes it more suitable for customers who work outside the home or travel during the day.

Walmart said that as part of its expansion plans, it plans to hire more than 3,000 InHome delivery workers this year and equip them with a fleet of 100 percent electric delivery vehicles. InHome delivery workers will be paid about 9 percent more than Walmart's average salary of $16.40 an hour.

InHome delivery workers are eligible for All of Walmart's rewards and benefits program, including medical, vision, and dental insurance, paid time off, free counseling, and free college degrees, and Walmart pays 100 percent of tuition and book fees through its Live Better U program.

"We've been testing our InHome program over the years, and we've found that customers like to put what they order in the fridge, or leave it on the kitchen counter, or in the garage," Ward said. This service allows them to spend their time doing what they want to do, rather than waiting at home for a courier or something. ”

Ward said: "We don't think there's the only right answer for last-mile service. We also need to experiment, and when we see something that really resonates with our customers, we want to bring it to more customers as quickly as possible. ”

Walmart will fill these vacancies by promoting its own employees from within. In fiscal 2021, more than 300,000 employees have been promoted to positions with greater responsibilities and higher salaries. InHome delivery staff will receive in-depth training face-to-face and virtual reality.

InHome is the latest shipping method for Walmart customers and an important part of the retailer's "last mile" delivery strategy. Walmart also provides delivery and courier services for more than 160,000 items in more than 3,400 Walmart stores, covering 70 percent of the U.S. population.

In addition, the retailer is an industry leader in experimenting with sustainable and innovative distribution solutions, such as drones and self-driving cars. Recently, Walmart began commercializing its nationwide distribution capabilities through Walmart GoLocal.