Co-op partners with Walmart to expand online grocery offerings

UK’s Co-op is partnering with Walmart to expand its online grocery offering.

The convenience store cooperative network announced Friday (July 5) that it will work with Walmart Commerce Technologies to implement its online order fulfillment technology, “Store Assist.”

“Our aim is to grow our share of the fast-commerce market, both through our own online store and through strategic partners,” George Hayworth, Co-op’s head of online development, said in the announcement.

“Our approach is focused on the ease, speed and convenience of our local stores, which are well-located in the heart of communities.”

The company says the new technology will help it achieve its ambition of capturing more than a third of the quick commerce (QComm) market share.

According to Co-op, Walmart Commerce Technologies Store Assist enables retailers to manage pickup, third-party marketplace, ship-from-store and last-mile delivery orders from a single platform.

“This streamlined omnichannel fulfillment workflow will improve in-store processes and operations, eliminate the need for colleagues to switch between quick commerce apps or different devices and enable faster delivery times, allowing Co-op to better serve its member-owners and customers,” the company said.

The partnership comes during the warmer months, when many grocery shoppers are turning away from e-commerce and returning to physical stores, as PYMNTS recently wrote.

Melissa Myres, chief analytics officer at 84.51°, the data science, analytics and media arm of grocery giant Kroger, said in an interview here that many grocery shoppers spend more time in physical stores during the warmer times of the year.

“It could be for a number of reasons,” Myres said. “It’s brighter for longer. They may have a schedule that makes it easier for them to find time. They may not have to worry about unusual weather conditions… We have more foot traffic to physical stores.”

She added that consumers’ summer food purchasing preferences are intertwining with their overall inflation-related budgeting decisions, leading many consumers to buy food to grill at home rather than eat out. This has contributed to an increase in meat sales over the past 12 weeks “primarily on a unit basis,” with consumers buying more meat per purchase.

Inflation is pushing many consumers to seek alternatives to dining out. The PYMNTS Intelligence study, “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: Inflation Slowly Ebbs, but Consumer Outlook Remains Gloomy,” found that nearly 8 in 10 consumers are eating at home more often to cut costs amid inflation.