Walmart, Amazon race rural deliveries

Walmart and Amazon are pushing deeper into rural America as both companies try to speed up deliveries outside major metro areas. Walmart said in April it can already reach 95% of U.S. households with delivery in three hours or less, while its latest quarterly earnings materials said same-day delivery expansion is on track to reach 95% of U.S. households by the end of fiscal 2026. Amazon has said it is investing more than $4 billion to triple the size of its rural delivery network by 2026 and extend faster Prime delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns and rural communities by the end of 2025. ### Why are Walmart’s stores such a big part of this fight? Walmart’s U.S. footprint is the clearest number in the contest. The company says 5,200 stores and clubs are within 10 miles of about 90% of the U.S. population, a figure it has used repeatedly to describe its logistics advantage. Walmart has also said roughly 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart or Sam’s Club. (corporate.walmart.com) April 16 is when Walmart tied that footprint directly to delivery speed. In a corporate post, the company said store proximity lets it reach 95% of U.S. households with delivery in three hours or less, supported by technology and store staff. The same update said Walmart plans more than 650 remodels and about 20 new store openings scheduled for 2026 and early 2027. (corporate.walmart.com) ### What exactly is Amazon building in rural areas? Amazon set out its rural plan in 2025 and has continued to add detail in 2026. The company said it is investing over $4 billion in rural America to expand its delivery network, create more than 100,000 jobs and offer faster delivery in small towns across the United States. By the end of 2025, Amazon said, Same-Day and Next-Day delivery will expand to more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns and rural communities. (corporate.walmart.com) The company said artificial intelligence helps it predict local demand so it can stock popular products and community-specific items closer to customers. May 2026 brought another speed push. Amazon said its new “Amazon Now” service was rolling out to dozens of U.S. cities, with 30-minute delivery on some orders, while saying more than 10,000 cities and towns already have access to Same-Day delivery, including a growing number of smaller towns and rural areas. (aboutamazon.com 1) (aboutamazon.com 2) ### How far has Walmart already pushed same-day delivery? Walmart’s February 2025 earnings release said it had expanded U.S. store-fulfilled delivery areas and could reach 93% of U.S. households with same-day delivery. An April 2025 Walmart+ announcement repeated that 93% figure and said same-day delivery, including orders fulfilled within three hours or less, grew 180% year over year and contributed to more than 5 billion units delivered last year. (press.aboutamazon.com) April 2025 also brought a separate Walmart update on delivery mapping. The company said a geospatial model had expanded delivery access to 12 million more U.S. households by redefining delivery zones. ### What does Amazon say about demand outside big cities? (corporate.walmart.com) Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive, said last week that the company had more than doubled same-day deliveries to rural areas so far this year. In an interview highlighted by Amazon, Jassy said more delivery stations were still to come as the company builds out its last-mile network for rural customers. (corporate.walmart.com) Amazon has also pushed grocery delivery further into smaller markets. In a December 2025 post, the company said same-day grocery delivery had expanded to more than 2,300 U.S. cities and towns, with additional growth planned for 2026. ### What comes next in this rollout? Fiscal 2026 is Walmart’s next stated milestone. The retailer said on May 15 that same-day delivery expansion remains on track to reach 95% of U.S. households by the end of that fiscal year. (aboutamazon.com) The end of 2025 is Amazon’s next public target in rural delivery. The company has said faster Prime delivery will reach more than 4,000 smaller communities by then, while its broader rural network build-out is scheduled to continue through 2026. (aboutamazon.com) (aboutamazon.com) (corporate.walmart.com)