Walmart takes data-driven approach to expand same-day delivery reach
Walmart is refining how it maps delivery areas and fills online orders to add millions of households to its same-day delivery coverage area.
The discount giant is leveraging advanced geospatial technology to divide geographic areas into precise hexagonal grids for the purpose of optimizing delivery zones.
This allows for more accurate mapping of delivery areas, enabling multiple Walmart stores to fulfill a customer’s order in one seamless delivery. As a result, Walmart can now make same-day deliveries to 12 million more households across the U.S.
The retailer’s geospatial platform is custom-built on open-source software and fed with internal and external data to optimize delivery coverage. Rather than utilizing traditional boundaries like ZIP codes, the system divides large areas into smaller, more precise hexagonal grids.
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Each grid contains real-time data such as slot availability, drive time, store capacity, and customer demand, which Walmart says allows it to adjust delivery zones with greater accuracy and ultimately serve more customers across the country. All data is anonymized and used in accordance with Walmart's privacy policies.
Unlike square or circular grids, which can create inefficiencies and leave out small areas at the edges, Walmart says this system ensures that every point within a delivery zone is included.
One delivery, many stores
With this new delivery mapping approach, customers can now have their delivery orders fulfilled by multiple Walmart stores within their service area. Previously, a customer’s order might have been fulfilled by a single Walmart store based on their location, which sometimes meant that if a product wasn’t available at that store, the customer would receive their order in multiple deliveries at different times.
Now, with geospatial technology refining and expanding Walmart’s delivery zones, a customer may be covered by multiple stores. If one store doesn’t have a particular item but another nearby location does, delivery drivers can pick up products from both, ensuring customers receive all the products in their order in one seamless delivery.
"We’re excited about how technology is helping us simplify our customers’ lives, and geospatial technology is one of the many ways making Walmart delivery more accessible and convenient for more households than ever," Walmart said.
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Walmart has been taking a variety of steps to enhance its delivery offering. In January 2025, the retailer made same-day pharmacy delivery available in 49 states for both new prescriptions and medication refills.
The company has also been growing its next-generation fulfillment center model featuring an automated, high-density storage and retrieval system. Other initiatives include utilizing a personalized replenishment algorithm to learn and anticipate regularly purchased items for its InHome delivery service and expanding drone delivery.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
This story originally appeared on sister publication Chain Store Age.
