4 More Major Walmart Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You
Shoppers in Texas and Florida can now get their groceries delivered via drone!
Walmart is doing everything in its power to ensure it’s the crème de la crème of America’s big-box retailers. From drone delivery to crypto payment methods (yeah, you read that right), Walmart is at the forefront of futuristic shopping. Here are four major changes coming to Walmart locations across the U.S.—including fashion news for teens.
RELATED: 4 Major Walmart Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You.
1
Walmart is expanding its drone delivery service to these five cities.
Walmart’s drone delivery service is expanding to five new cities, according to a June press release.
Through the program, customers can handpick groceries and urgent care items from the comfort of their couch—or car, office, school pickup, and more. Need it A.S.A.P.? Choose from Express Delivery (under 30 minutes), Late-Night Delivery, or InHome Delivery (straight to the kitchen) options. Walmart said the drone service offers “a delivery experience that’s quieter than the average delivery truck.”
Walmart’s air delivery service is in partnership with drone provider Wing. The drone company “operates within FAA guidelines, flying their drones Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) up to a six-mile aircraft range from the store,” reads the release.
The expansion will launch at 100 Walmart locations across the Southeast. The service is already available in Dallas, Texas, and Bentonville, Arkansas. It will soon be available in the following cities:
- Houston, Texas
- Tampa, Florida
- Orlando, Florida
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Charlotte, North Carolina
“As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail. We’re pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before,” said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. Transformation and Innovation. “This expansion of our drone delivery service marks a significant milestone in that journey. As the first retailer to scale drone delivery, Walmart is once again demonstrating its commitment to leveraging technology to enhance our delivery offerings with a focus on speed.”
2
Walmart shoppers may soon be paying with cryptocurrency.
Is Walmart rolling out its own type of cryptocurrency? The Wall Street Journal reports that the big-box retailer could be launching a crypto-based payment method called “stablecoins” to strategically sidestep the billions of fees associated with credit card transactions.
“Stablecoins are currently used to store cash or purchase other cryptocurrency tokens. They are supposed to maintain a one-to-one exchange ratio with dollars or other government currencies, and are backed by reserves of cash or cashlike assets such as Treasurys,” explains The WSJ.
Walmart can’t put a plan into action until the House passes the Genius Act, a bill that would establish a federal “regulatory framework for stablecoins.” The Senate approved the bill earlier this week, per CNBC.
RELATED: 4 Major Sam’s Club Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You.
3
Walmart is launching its own credit card program.
In more financial news, Walmart has plans to launch its own credit card program. Powered by Mastercard, the credit card will live within the OnePay mobile app.
“OnePay and Synchrony will introduce both a general-purpose card, which will serve as the program’s signature card and be available to use anywhere Mastercard is accepted, and a private label card, which will be exclusively for Walmart purchases,” per the press release. “The credit card functionality will be embedded inside the OnePay app, offering millions of Walmart’s U.S. customers a sleek, intuitive digital experience and the ability to access OnePay’s suite of financial services products.”
The program was announced earlier this month and is expected to go live in Fall 2025.
4
Walmart is raising prices due to tariffs.
Despite early optimism, Walmart has succumbed to tariff-induced price hikes.
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” company chief financial officer John David Rainey told CNBC. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb.”
Price increases started in May. As Best Life previously reported, “Rainey confirmed that Walmart will be enforcing ‘higher prices’ on four popular grocery items. These include bananas, avocados, coffee, and roses due to tariffs on Costa Rican, Peruvian, and Colombian imports….Nearly one-third of Walmart’s inventory comes from countries that’ve been impacted by President Trump’s imposed tariffs.”
To help offset this, Walmart recently announced a new celebrity advertising campaign as well as a clothing brand for tweens called Weekend Academy, reported CNBC. The latter launches in July, and a majority of the 65-piece collection will retail for under $15.
