The Home Depot Partnering With Walmart’s GoLocal for Same Day Deliveries

A recently-announced partnership between The Home Depot and Walmart has the potential to allow millions of DIYers and professional to get tools and materials delivered straight to their jobsites — sometimes the same day they place an order.

The partnership relies on The Home Depot routing a portion of online orders through Walmart’s B2B GoLocal service, launched in August. That allows companies to piggyback on the retail titan’s experience with customer deliveries.

How Does It Work?

While Walmart and The Home Depot have not revealed full details of their agreement, they say a range of items will be available for same-day or next-day delivery. The service will be available to DIYers to commercial contractors alike, with access rolled out over the coming year.

When shopping online at HomeDepot.com, users will see a “Scheduled Delivery” shipping option on select products. In most cases, ordering before noon will allow for same-day delivery, though availability and delivery cost depends on size, weight and options selected.

Walmart’s Spark Driver service is the anticipated delivery method for this partnership. Spark Driver uses independent, third-party drivers to make deliveries to homes and commercial locations.

When Can I Get The Home Depot Same-Day Delivery?

That depends. Currently the service is available in select markets, including Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas, as reported by CNBC. But there are plans to expand to across the country by the end of the year.

“This partnership brings us even closer to our goal of offering same-day or next-day delivery to 90 percent of the U.S. population,” Stephanie Smith, senior vice president of supply chain for The Home Depot, said in a press release.

The initial partnership announcement didn’t include a timeline for nationwide expansion, so DIYers should keep their eyes open for news about availability in their area. To find out if The Home Depot same-day delivery is an option for you, go to TheHomeDepot.com and look for a Scheduled Delivery option when purchasing smaller items.

What Qualifies for Delivery?

The retailers say qualifying items include “tools, fasteners, paint and other supplies that easily fit in a car.”

That “easily fit in a car” is an important qualifier and likely eliminates trim, lumber, drywall, plywood and other bulky items. For those materials, DIYers will still need to jump in a truck themselves or use the existing Home Depot delivery options for large or bulk items.

Benefits of The Home Depot Same-Day Delivery

Any DIY enthusiast who’s had to halt work and spend an hour or more running to the nearest big box store to find one forgotten item can understand the usefulness of same-day delivery.

Besides avoiding extra trips to the hardware store, same-day delivery would allow DIYers to keep less material stocks on hand — especially helpful to DIYers with small home workshops or cramped garages.

What’s To Come with the Same-Day Delivery Program?

If any companies can make same-day construction-material delivery work, it’s these two retailers, especially considering the budgets and established platforms they bring to the table. And the future might hold even more interesting developments.

Walmart is an investor in Cruise, a company focused on self-driving electric vehicles. It’s possible we’ll see driverless cars making regular rounds, or standard shop materials being set up on subscription programs, à la Amazon’s Subscribe and Save.

Only time will tell. For now, most DIYers will be happy to simply avoid a few extra trips to their local home improvement store.