Walmart to provide delivery service for other businesses

Walmart will begin delivering other retailers ' products directly to customers' homes as fast as just a few hours to expand its sources of profits and revenues beyond its core retail businesses.

For the service, dubbed GoLocal, Walmart has signed contractual agreements with national and small business clients, which it declined to name.

Walmart is currently selecting new business partners.

The Arkansas-based retailer began delivering more than 160,000 items for its shoppers three years ago from over 3,000 stores, reaching nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population.

Walmart aims to use its contract workers, autonomous vehicles, and even drones for local communities that have struggled to implement their delivery operations.

The plan will pit Walmart against the likes of Uber and DoorDash.

and other delivery services.

Walmart declined to offer figures on the investment or financial targets for the service. It is to begin operations within a few months.

Tom Ward, Walmart's US division senior vice president, said that fees will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and that delivery time could be as fast as a few hours or up to two days.