Issue #98: Walmart Delivers Hot Food Now?

I have been a Knicks fan for as long as I can remember (I really thought Frank Ntilikina was going to be the future). I am someone who has always bet on New York, even when it may not have been popular. With that being said, I would be remiss if I did not shout out the Knicks and the championship they just won. What a team and what a season. Go New York, Go New York, Go! Coming out of all this joy has been some amazing content, and I wanted to share my favorite below. It may not be super connected to retail, but NYC is about to see a retail boom coming off of this.

Before we dive into this week’s trends and takeaways, I wanted to share about the event I am co-hosting in a couple of weeks. Some are calling it the second-best event behind the Knicks’ championship parade in the next couple of weeks. Later this month, the CPG and retail worlds are descending on NYC for Fancy Food, a conference where brands display their latest products. Before that, you are obviously going to need some fuel (coffee and breakfast), so I partnered with a couple of other awesome folks and companies in the CPG / Retail world to put this on. Monday, June 29, from 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM in Midtown. Hope to see you there!

Walmart may have started behind the eight ball in terms of eCommerce, but they have certainly caught up and surged to the upper echelons of those in the space. Starting with a backend operations and technology overhaul, coupled with the acquisition of Jet.com and folding it into the broader business, those core pillars have enabled $150B in 2025 eComm sales. In 2025, Walmart ramped up 1-hour delivery from stores, which is not an easy feat. That wasn’t enough for them, and a couple of weeks ago, Walmart launched 30-minute delivery in 33 markets, including Austin, Dallas, and Denver. 26% of their Express Deliveries are already arriving in that timeframe, so it clearly was something they felt could be repeatable. It is only available to Walmart + members, and they have to pay a $10 fee per order. Interestingly, Walmart is actually taking over abandoned retail space and converting it to a dark store to speed up deliveries.

However, that express delivery was just for the general merchandise. You could not order the in-store restaurants in Walmart with fast delivery. Typically, Walmart has an assortment of McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Subway, or other local fast casual/fast food restaurants. Now, that is changing with an announcement last week that customers can get Subway delivered through express delivery. Pricing will be the same as in-store locations. This pilot is now live in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It will expand to approximately 1,400 locations by the end of the summer, which is just under a third of its locations in the United States. I would assume that it will expand to other in-store restaurants if successful.

What gets interesting to me is what happens once all the in-store restaurants get on the platform. At what point does Walmart start to add non-competitive restaurants into the experience as a two-stop or third-party marketplace? Part of the reason for Walmart’s explosive growth in eCommerce has been the choice to make it not just products sold by Walmart. On Walmart.com, there is a plethora of sellers that help expand the assortment and drive the long tail, similar to how Amazon operates. I am not sure there are other categories that would make sense to add in that Walmart can’t handle (maybe alcohol, luxury goods, and specialty grocery), but Walmart is starting to bring in more of those items as more high-income shoppers shop there.

The interesting caveat here is what happens with Walmart and Wonders’ partnership (remember that). Wonder is a restaurant that serves 15-plus cuisines from one kitchen. It was founded by Marc Lore, who founded Jet.com, which Walmart acquired. In 2024, when Wonder first started to get into the brick-and-mortar game, the partnership was launched to big fanfare. This partnership is an excellent fit for both parties, in theory. However, since it launched, there has not been a peep, really, from either side about it. A quick Google search indicates that at least one of the four pilot locations is still operating. Something to monitor as this expands.

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