Verizon Media announced on Monday that it has hooked up with Walmart to provide a new service that allows Yahoo email users to shop and buy groceries online. Online shopping, along with curbside pick-up, has taken on added importance during the coronavirus pandemic due to social distancing measures and the need to stay clear of crowded locations.
Verizon Media, which owns Yahoo, said it was the first time that email users could fill a shopping cart from their email inbox. The service, which is called Groceries from Walmart, also enables Yahoo's nearly 900 million email users to keep track of their promotions and coupons within the email application.
"Because of the unprecedented coronavirus challenge, online grocery shopping is now the new normal and Verizon Media is well positioned to take advantage of the behavior shifts,” said Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan, in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with Walmart on this industry-first feature, helping Yahoo Mail users more easily browse and buy essential groceries without having to leave their inbox, saving them time and helping them organize their lives through enhanced and innovative experiences within their email.”
Last year, Yahoo Mail rolled out a new app that included the launch of Grocery View. The application can show users the deals at local grocery stores and lets them save those deals to their shopping list. With Walmart, the application allows the users to buy "essential" groceries within Yahoo Mail.
Verizon Media captures offline to online customer behavior shifts in order to create a more integrated shopping experience for Yahoo Mail users. Verizon Media didn't say how the information was captured.
Similar to shopping Amazon online, users of the app will get personalized grocery recommendations based on their Yahoo profiles. Additionally, the shopping cart never expires, which means that people can keep adding items throughout the week and checkout whenever they’re ready. Once their shopping lists are complete, customers can pick up their groceries from their local Walmart stores.
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A recent survey by Inmar Intelligence found that 80% of U.S. citizens are now shopping online for groceries, which was up 40% from pre-pandemic levels. Almost 60% said they were shopping for groceries online more often now than they were before the pandemic began.
Groceries from Walmart is currently available on the Yahoo Mail iOS app and desktop, with Android slated for later this year.