- Walmart's Spark delivery service has become a significant part of its e-commerce strategy.
- But there are problems, from long wait times to drivers using false identities, according to workers.
- Here is Business Insider's reporting on Spark from the past year.
Walmart is trying to deliver more orders using its own employees and gig workers. Its Spark Driver app is a big part of that effort.
In August 2022, DoorDash and Walmart parted ways after a four-year partnership. Previously, DoorDash had delivered products from Walmart stores to customers using its legion of independent contractors.
The same month, Walmart acquired Delivery Drivers Inc., the company it worked with to create Spark. Walmart and DDI have worked together since 2018. "Hundreds of thousands" of Spark drivers have since made deliveries through the app, Walmart said in a blog post in June.
But workers who have delivered or shopped orders for Spark say the service faces multiple problems. Some issues, such as customers who don't tip, are similar to those faced by contractors for other apps, such as DoorDash.
Others, including Spark drivers who use multiple identities, appear to be worse on Spark.
Here's a roundup of Business Insider's coverage of Walmart's Spark delivery service over the past year.
Do you work for Spark and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected]
Fraudulent Walmart Spark drivers use false identities — and sometimes many identities at once — to claim orders.
In June 2023, some Spark workers protested outside a Chicago-area Walmart to call attention to drivers who appear to be using false identities and special software to claim more orders than their peers — and maximize their earnings.
Business Insider's investigation into the claims found that some drivers were indeed showing up at Walmart stores around the US using multiple names that were not their own to claim orders. Walmart rolled out an identity-verification measure through the Spark app, but the problem has persisted, several Spark drivers have since told BI.
Read more: Walmart's delivery program is having an identity crisis. Some drivers aren't who they say they are.
Walmart Spark drivers deal with long wait times for orders and customers asking them to bring deliveries into their homes.
Spark drivers say Walmart still has problems to work out in its delivery operation.
Some workers told Business Insider that associates take over an hour to bring orders to their cars once drivers arrive at a store to pick up an order. The delays result in unhappy customers, and it also makes it harder to earn money as a Spark driver since drivers aren't compensated for that extra wait time, some told BI.
Like other gig workers, Spark drivers also face odd demands from customers. Some Spark drivers told Business Insider that customers often confuse Spark deliveries with InHome Delivery, a Walmart program where full-time employees put groceries directly in customers' kitchens. This confusion has lead to awkward moments or worse when the gig workers decline to bring groceries inside a customer's home.
The role of Spark drivers at Walmart — and their status as gig workers — appears up for debate going into 2024
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in September that associates, its full-time workers, will deliver more of the retailer's delivery orders in the future. That created questions for Spark drivers, who currently deliver most of the retailer's delivery orders.
Some aspects of work as a Spark driver, such as the wait times for orders, led one former driver in Washington state to sue Walmart, arguing that the service asks workers to effectively work as employees without an appropriate hourly wage. Walmart told Business Insider that it disputes the claim.
Read more: Former Spark driver sues Walmart, claiming gig drivers should be considered employees