BENTONVILLE, Arkansas, April 20, 2026, 12:12 CDT
Walmart is experimenting with using its store back rooms to stash inventory from third-party sellers, looking to trim delivery times for online marketplace orders—and to challenge Amazon in the speed race. That’s according to a Sunday report from the Financial Times, which cited sources familiar with the initiative.
Timing is key here. Amazon pushed out one-hour and three-hour delivery options in U.S. markets last month, setting a faster pace while consumers increasingly expect to bundle both low-cost essentials and bigger-ticket items together. Walmart’s response? It’s doubling down on its network of stores—a scale Amazon can’t quite match.
Walmart is experimenting with using back-room shelves in stores around Dallas for same-day delivery prep of third-party marketplace items, according to PYMNTS, referencing the FT. Someone with direct knowledge described the Dallas pilot, noting Walmart often turns to this area for new tech trials.
Walmart plans to roll out a limited set of marketplace products for pickup and delivery in select markets, Manish Joneja, senior vice president, Walmart U.S. Marketplace and Walmart Fulfillment Services, told the FT, as cited by PYMNTS. These marketplace goods come from third-party sellers, not Walmart’s own stock.
The test signals a broader change for Walmart’s online operations. Its stores already handle pickup and quick delivery for groceries and items stocked directly by Walmart. Now, by rolling that approach out to third-party sellers, the company could blur the line between its marketplace and the main Walmart experience, moving the marketplace closer to the center of its retail strategy.
Walmart last week claimed it can deliver to 95% of U.S. households within three hours or less. The retailer is pumping money into over 650 store remodels this year, rolling out expanded pickup and delivery options as part of the overhaul. Customers can use the app to order for pickup or delivery in as little as one hour, the company added.
There’s a clear incentive here for the company. Walmart U.S. operates 4,611 stores nationwide, and nearly all now offer same-day pickup and delivery, its latest annual report says. E-commerce sales for Walmart U.S. reached roughly $99.6 billion in fiscal 2026, jumping from $79.3 billion the previous year, according to the same filing.
Even so, Amazon’s marketplace dwarfs Walmart’s. According to eMarketer figures cited in the FT, U.S. marketplace sales for Walmart came in under $14 billion last year, compared with Amazon’s $333 billion, PYMNTS noted. For fiscal 2026, Walmart U.S. net sales stood at roughly $483 billion, according to the company’s latest annual report.
Walmart’s CFO John David Rainey told the crowd at JPMorgan’s Retail Roundup this month that marketplace revenue is tracking about 20% growth. Certain categories — home, hardlines, fashion — are up over 30%, according to Rainey, who described marketplace as key for expanding Walmart’s general merchandise lineup, an area where he said the retailer has had less strength.
That’s the commercial angle: groceries drive return visits, but it’s general merchandise that lands bigger baskets and bigger ad revenue. Speeding up marketplace delivery just might stop shoppers from dividing their spending—Walmart for groceries, Amazon for the rest.
Amazon isn’t idling. The retailer says shoppers can grab one-hour delivery on over 90,000 products, and its three-hour service now reaches upwards of 2,000 cities and towns. Prime members are charged $9.99 for the one-hour option, $4.99 for three-hour delivery. Non-members face higher fees.
Execution inside the store is where the risk comes in. Back rooms juggle replenishment, grocery pickup, returns, and delivery staging as it is; layering in third-party inventory brings more complexity—labor, inventory accuracy, and space planning all get tougher. Walmart hasn’t said how many stores are participating in the test, how many sellers are part of it, or given a timeline for expansion.
Walmart rose 84 cents to $128.34 recently, while Amazon slipped $3.43 to $247.13 in U.S. trading. The shifts were slight, yet the test signals the Walmart-Amazon battle is edging further into customers’ doorsteps.
