Walmart's New Delivery Service: You

Retail behemoth looks to crowd sourcing for home delivery
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2013 12:20 PM CDT
Walmart's New Delivery Service: You
A Wal-Mart truck makes its way down a local highway, in this Nov. 30, 2006 file photo, in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file)

If Walmart is too understaffed to stock its own shelves, how can it hope to move into home delivery? Turns out, the retail behemoth could be turning to people like you. Yes, Walmart is looking into crowd-sourcing home deliveries, paying its customers to deliver packages for them, reports Reuters. "This is at the brain-storming stage, but it's possible in a year or two," said one senior exec at Walmart.

While online start-ups now have people sharing apartments, cars, and more, experts say Walmart would face much more imposing legal and regulatory hurdles to introduce such a service. Currently the company offers home delivery from 25 stores, using its Walmart To Go delivery service, and plans on expanding that to 50 stores this year. Theft and other crimes are another major concern. "You are comfortable with a FedEx or UPS truck in your driveway, but what about a stranger knocking on your door?," asks one retail expert. Elsewhere, Mashable notes that Google is adding same-day delivery via its newly launched Google Shopping Express. (More Walmart stories.)

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