In a bid to sharpen its delivery skills, Walmart has closed a deal to acquire Parcel - a delivery logistics startup. The retailer giant plans to leverage Parcel for last mile delivery to customers in New York City and offer same-day delivery services for both fresh & frozen groceries as well as general merchandise. 

For the uninitiated, Parcel is a Brooklyn based logistics company that operates 24/7 and is renowned for its same-day, overnight, and in scheduled two-hour window delivery services. The company already handles the supply of delivery services for online retailers such as Bonobos and online meal kit delivery companies like Martha & Marley Spoon and Chef’d. Reportedly, Parcel will continue to service its current client base, but Walmart will utilize the company’s network to ramp up its own same-day delivery offerings for both Walmart.com and its internet retailer Jet.com in NY.

The deal places its foundation on the fact that more customers expect to have the option for fast delivery when placing their online orders. Thus, with this acquisition, Walmart believes that Parcel will help the company reduce the costs associated with the deliveries in addition to helping it better compete with the e-commerce giant Amazon.com. For the record, Amazon already offers its prime members with free two-hour delivery on a limited assortment of goods and also lets these customers leverage the option of same-day delivery for free on a collection of more than a million products.

Walmart’s focus on the fast delivery options shows how the priorities have undergone a paradigm shift for majority of the retailers, as now-a-days, they travel to shopper’s homes rather than the other way around. In this transformed landscape of the online retail market, the ability to deliver as fast as possible with low costs is poised to bring forth tremendous advantages for online retailers. Moreover, such moves emphasizing on swift delivery options are clear indicators of the fact that these retail giants are mastering the delivery game to fend off competitors.

Amazon and Walmart have always been neck to neck and now, they have been observed chasing each other down by following a pattern of similar moves. For instance, in June, Walmart announced its plans to purchase online men’s fashion store Bonobos Inc., for USD 310 million. However, on the same day Amazon also revealed its plans to acquire supermarket grocer Whole Foods Market Inc., in a USD 13.7 billion deal.

Representatives of both Walmart & Parcel have declined to reveal the deal value, but sources claim the acquisition price to be not more than USD 10 million.