Postmates to Help Walmart Deliver Groceries the 'Last Mile'
Walmart and Postmates have teamed up to delivery groceries in Charlotte, N.C., with the aim of expanding Walmart's grocery delivery service to include 40% of U.S. households.
The pilot partnership is the latest move in the race to control online grocery shopping and delivery. The e-commerce giant Amazon led the charge last year when it purchased the grocery chain Whole Foods in December.
The new deal with Postmates will enable Walmart to overcome logistical hurdles that make local delivery difficult, said Dan Mosher, Postmate's senior vice president and merchant lead.
The delivery company has 160,000 couriers delivering products for 270,000 business in the U.S. and Mexico City.
Mosher said Monday in an interview on Cheddar that Walmart's position as one of the largest and most popular grocery stores in the United States made it an attractive partner for Postmates, which is fighting off challenges from well-funded delivery rivals.
One of the most vexing issues for retailers ー even the behemoth Walmart ー has been figuring out the proper logistics for the "last mile" of delivery, said Mosher.
Postmates is well positioned to help Walmart, he said, by relying on the delivery company's fleet of couriers and "an algorithm that is improving every day."
"We're doing things like batching orders and this is something that Walmart is really going to benefit from," said Mosher. "Going into those locations and picking up one, two, and three orders, and being able to really use software to drive down the cost and make that work financially."
Postmates has been feeling the pressure from rivals including DoorDash, which received an investment of $535 million last month led led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group. That investment could be used for DoorDash's international expansion.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/new-power-couple-alert-postmates-and-walmart-team-up).
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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