Walmart has pursued numerous initiatives designed to improve its delivery speed and reach over the past year, and now the retail giant is reportedly testing dark stores —mini-warehouses that are not open to the public — in Dallas and Bentonville, Ark., according to Bloomberg and other media outlets.
By stocking these dark stores with popular products, retailers can support a wider delivery radius and faster deliveries. Walmart is reportedly considering additional dark stores, but no locations have been specified. Faster delivery is a key goal of Walmart’s strategic roadmap.
Some of the most significant Walmart delivery developments of the past year include:
- In June 2024 Walmart expanded its InHome delivery option, which provides Walmart associates with a one-time access code to place orders inside a customer’s home or garage, to 50+ markets covering 45 million homes;
- In October 2024 Walmart integrated prescriptions into its delivery offerings, expanding customers’ options to include same-day scheduled delivery, on-demand delivery and express delivery within 30 minutes;
- In April 2025 Walmart deployed geospatial technology that helped redefine how it maps delivery areas, expanding the retailer’s reach and same-day delivery capabilities to 12 million additional U.S. households; and
- Earlier this month, Walmart expanded drone deliveries to five Southeastern cities.
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