Dollar General tests same-day delivery as discounter chases Walmart

Dollar General is testing same-day delivery to customers’ homes as the deep discounter tries to fend off fiercer competition with Walmart.

On an earnings call Thursday, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said the retailer “soft launched” the delivery program in September. Now it offers same-day delivery at about 75 stores, he said. It is offered through a third-party company, which he did not name.

“We’ve always said here, ‘We’re going to do delivery our way when it’s time,’” Vasos said. “We believe it’s time.”

He said the company expects it will ultimately expand the offering to “thousands of stores.”

With same-day delivery, the Tennessee-based dollar store is acknowledging the pressure from other retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Temu that offer convenience along with low prices. Walmart, for instance, has significantly grown its online business, posting 10 quarters in a row of double-digit e-commerce gains in the U.S., as it offers curbside pickup and speedier home deliveries.

Dollar General, on the other hand, typically does not share updates or specific figures about its e-commerce business in quarterly earnings reports because of its heavy reliance on brick-and-mortar sales.

Yet over the past year, Dollar General has felt the pinch from both economic challenges and its own strategy. Consumers, particularly low-income households, have pulled back on discretionary purchases because of the cumulative effect of high inflation. Dollar General also has paid millions of dollars of fines for sloppy stores and blocked fire exits that became both workplace safety hazards and potential turnoffs for its shoppers.

In recent months, Dollar General’s CEO has spoken about losing market share to Walmart. Vasos said at a Goldman Sachs retail conference in September that “the guys in Bentonville [the Arkansas home of Walmart’s headquarters] took a little bit larger piece” of the retailer’s middle-income customer base.

Vasos said the company launched its own program after learning from its DoorDash deliveries, which are available at about 16,000 of its stores.

The new offering, DG Delivery, is available for customers at select stores, according to Dollar General’s website. Customers place orders through Dollar General’s app and can get the same store prices and delivery in as little as an hour. The program also accepts digital coupons and offers cash back rewards.

DG Delivery does not appear to charge a fee or have a minimum order requirement, according to the website.

On Dollar General’s earnings call on Thursday, Vasos said Dollar General is still working on its business model for the online offering, but said it relies on labor from a third party rather than using store employees or company-employed delivery people. He said same-day delivery is an opportunity to grow the retailer’s advertising business, too, since customers would engage with the app more frequently when placing orders.

But the option is still available at only a tiny fraction of Dollar General’s stores. It has more than 20,000 stores across the country, including many in rural parts of the U.S.