Walmart adds restaurant meals to delivery orders, raising fulfillment complexity

Walmart has started asking some Spark delivery workers at certain stores to carry restaurant orders alongside groceries, adding meals, sides and drinks to a delivery system built for store merchandise. For pickup, staging and front-end teams, that raises the stakes on every handoff: the grocery side of the order still has to be picked, checked and loaded correctly, but now the clock also runs on ready-to-eat food that customers expect to arrive hot and on time.

The change reaches inside Walmart locations that already host restaurant brands such as McDonald’s and Dunkin’, as well as some stores with regional operators like Wienerschnitzel. That means a single delivery can now cross more than one business inside the same building, with store associates, restaurant operators and Spark Driver couriers all affecting whether the order leaves cleanly. Another app message said some restaurant orders would be batched with Walmart merchandise, which could make substitution issues, missing items and staging delays more visible to customers waiting on one combined drop-off.

Spark is central to that shift. Walmart launched Spark Delivery in 2018 as a last-mile delivery pilot, and by 2023 the company said the service had become its largest local delivery provider. Walmart also said in 2024 that its grocery network supported more than 4,600 stores across the United States. The restaurant expansion suggests Walmart wants those stores to function as a broader convenience hub, not just a pickup point for household goods and groceries.

For store leaders, that is where the workload gets harder. Combined orders can create more pressure around timing, order accuracy and handoff procedures, especially when a meal is waiting on a shelf beside a bag of produce or frozen food. The more categories Walmart pushes through the same delivery lane, the more likely associates are to hear from customers who want one answer: why did the food and the groceries not arrive together?

The timing matters too. An in-app message said restaurant deliveries began last Monday, as Walmart continues to widen what can be added to a delivery basket. The company is making the store more valuable to shoppers who want speed and convenience, but the delivery model is also becoming more sensitive to labor, incentive and tip questions. In February 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced a $100 million judgment with Walmart over Spark driver pay, tip and incentive claims, a reminder that every new layer of delivery complexity carries worker and compliance risk along with the sales upside.