Dive Brief:

• Walmart has partnered with Verizon Media to enable grocery shopping from customers’ email inboxes, according to a press release.
• The service, called "Groceries from Walmart," will be available to Yahoo Mail users through the iOS app and desktop, with Android to come later this year. Shoppers will be able to browse products and add them to their carts within Yahoo Mail.
• When using Groceries from Walmart, customers’ carts don’t expire, so they can add items throughout a day or a week and check out once they’re ready. The options for pickup or delivery will be the same through Yahoo Mail as they are when a user orders directly from Walmart.

Dive Insight:

Though the companies didn’t lay out the step-by-step process of the service, they said this is the first time ever that email users will be able to shop and add to cart directly from their inboxes.  

The move adds additional functionality to Yahoo Mail’s newest app, which launched last year and includes a feature called Grocery View. With Grocery View, shoppers can see deals at local grocery stores, save them to their shopping lists and connect loyalty cards to their email accounts. 

The partnership could drive additional business for Walmart’s grocery arm, and will give both Walmart and Verizon Media access more shopper data. This promises to offer shoppers more personalized recommendations based on their Yahoo profiles and Walmart purchase history. It also gives the companies a deeper understanding of online shopping patterns.

The adoption of online grocery has surged amid COVID-19, with shoppers testing out various services in an effort to find the ones that best fit their daily routines. Online grocery sales surpassed $7 billion in June, and nearly 80% of shoppers have shopped online for groceries since the pandemic began, according to Inmar Intelligence. 

Walmart has been consistently working to simplify the online grocery ordering process. Last year it added voice ordering, which is compatible with Siri and Google Assistant, and the company is expected to soon roll out Walmart+, a $98-per-year annual subscription that will include features like same-day grocery delivery, fuel discounts and scan-and-go shopping. Earlier this year, it also merged its grocery app with its standard shopping app to streamline the user experience.