“There was clearly some lack of communication there,” said one of the sources with knowledge of the partnerships ending.
Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman confirmed the end of the tie-ups when asked by Reuters, but did not detail the reasons behind the decision. She said Walmart will use other delivery service providers in the four markets where it had previously used Uber.
“Customers shouldn’t notice any difference as the transition takes place,” said Blakeman, who added that the partnership with Lyft never expanded beyond the initial test market of Denver.
Blakeman said the end of the partnerships will not impact Walmart’s plans to scale grocery delivery as they are not tied to any single provider.
Uber put a stop to the grocery partnership when it informed Walmart in March that it would cease delivery operations on June 30, Uber spokeswoman Ellen Cohn told Reuters. The retailer was Uber’s largest partner for its ‘Rush’ service, which delivered groceries as well as clothes, flowers and other goods.
Uber will shutter the entire Rush program at the end of next month.
“We are coordinating with Walmart to make this change as seamless as possible,” Cohn said.
Lyft declined comment and deferred to Walmart on the issue.
For Walmart, which is the country’s largest grocer and gets 56 percent revenue from groceries, the partnerships offered a fast solution to expand its online grocery offerings and improve overall revenue from internet shoppers.
For example, Walmart delivers groceries in China through a partnership with e-commerce company JD.com Inc JD.O, and in Japan through an alliance with Rakuten.
But the retailer was recently punished for its fourth-quarter online sales performance, which investors say is key to the company’s future.
Be the first to comment