Walmart Considers Crowd Sourced Shipping

Walmart is the largest retailer in the world. The retail giant has put more than one small business out of business around the country because it's almost impossible to compete with the prices Walmart offers. However, Walmart and many other retailers are now feeling significant pressure from online giants such as Amazon.com.

While Walmart rules in the retail world, Amazon dominates online. Walmart is looking at all sorts of ways to help improve its online sales and take back some of the online market it has lost to Amazon and others. One of the ways Walmart is looking to do this is by figuring out how to be able to ship orders more quickly to online buyers.

Reuters reports that Walmart is considering crowd source shipping. Walmart is said to be considering allowing its customers to sign up to be able to deliver packages to online buyers on their way home from the store. In exchange for delivering packages, Walmart would offer some sort of discount the cover fuel and presumably the delivery person's time.

If successful, this crowd sourced shipping push would likely save Walmart some money and get customers their online purchases more quickly. Walmart CEO Joel Anderson says that he sees the path to ground sourced shipping. However, senior VP of Walmart US innovations Jeff McAllister says that crowd sourced shipping is only at the brainstorming stage. However, he points out that it would be possible in a year or two.

[via Reuters]