BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Walmart is expanding its restaurant delivery business through a new partnership with Papa John’s, extending a service that lets shoppers combine prepared meals with groceries and other Walmart purchases in a single order.
The retailer will begin offering delivery from select Papa John’s restaurants in the coming weeks, with plans to expand the service to thousands of locations across the United States. Orders placed through Walmart’s app or website can be delivered in 30 minutes or less, the company says.
The agreement marks Walmart’s third restaurant delivery partnership in recent months, following deals with Subway and Dunkin’. Unlike those partnerships, which began with restaurants inside Walmart stores, Papa John’s marks Walmart’s first restaurant delivery agreement with a chain that is not also a Walmart tenant.
Greg Cathey, senior vice president of e-commerce fulfillment innovation at Walmart, described the expansion to off-site restaurants as a “natural evolution” of the service as Walmart seeks to offer customers a broader selection of cuisines and restaurant locations.
About 65% of restaurant delivery orders currently include additional merchandise from Walmart, highlighting the retailer’s opportunity to use prepared food to drive larger digital baskets.
Restaurant delivery is available through Walmart’s Express Delivery service, which delivers in an hour or less for a flat fee. Papa John’s orders will be fulfilled by independent contractors using Walmart’s Spark Driver platform.
The expansion builds on Walmart’s efforts to leverage its store network as a last-mile delivery advantage. The retailer operates more than 4,600 U.S. stores and reports that roughly 90% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of one of its locations.
Walmart has steadily broadened the assortment available for rapid delivery beyond groceries and general merchandise. Its delivery offerings now include prescription drugs, refrigerated medications, and restaurant meals.
The strategy also places Walmart in more direct competition with restaurant delivery platforms such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. At the same time, adding more categories to its delivery network could help Walmart spread fulfillment costs over a larger volume of orders as it works to improve the economics of its e-commerce business.
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