More choice, greater complexity: Retail delivery expands

Retailers broaden the scope of food delivery

Retailers are expanding home delivery beyond traditional product categories as grocery, prepared meals, restaurant orders, and household merchandise converge within the same digital fulfillment networks.

Who’s expanding meal delivery options

• Walmart has outlined plans to start home delivery from approximately 150 Dunkin’ locations inside its stores, with most of Dunkin’s approximately 10,000 U.S. locations to follow. Eligible customers will be able to order Dunkin’ products through the Walmart app or Walmart.com, along with groceries and household wares.
• The Dunkin’ collaboration builds on Walmart’s restaurant delivery rollout with Subway and extends the model to restaurants located outside Walmart stores. Approximately 90% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart location.
• Uber Eats and Wakefern Food Corp. are teaming up to expand on-demand grocery delivery across the Northeast. Wakefern, the supply chain cooperative behind regional supermarket chains like ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, and Fairway Market, will allow its customers to order from more than 375 of its affiliated stores through Uber Eats.
• Target has introduced Factor’s chef-prepared, ready-to-heat meals in more than 800 stores, adding another prepared-food option to its retail and delivery assortment.

Behind the food trend

Consumers increasingly expect to combine different types of purchases into one convenient delivery experience. For retailers, adding restaurant food and prepared meals to existing e-commerce platforms can create more customer touchpoints and make greater use of existing stores and delivery networks.

At the same time, these models also add operational complexity, since prepared food orders have different preparation times, temperature requirements, and packaging needs than traditional groceries and homewares.

What retailers and suppliers should do next

• Map which product categories can share fulfillment and delivery capacity without compromising temperature, timing, or handling requirements.
• Prepare for smaller, more frequent replenishment to stores and other local fulfillment locations.
• Improve inventory accuracy across every location and available product visibility for customers.
• Build flexible final-mile capacity that can support scheduled grocery orders, time-sensitive restaurant orders, and general merchandise.
• Measure the full cost to serve combined orders, including picking, packaging, delivery exceptions, refunds, and returns.

Membership programs reshape fulfillment expectations

Programs such as Walmart+, Amazon Prime, Target Circle 360, Kroger Boost, and Instacart+ are influencing how frequently customers order, how quickly they expect purchases to arrive, and how often they use delivery and return services.

Membership data can help retailers improve forecasting and position inventory closer to demand. However, increased order frequency, faster delivery expectations, and higher return activity can also raise fulfillment and transportation costs.

What retailers should consider

• Incorporate membership concentration and ordering patterns into inventory and capacity planning.
• Segment products by delivery urgency rather than applying the same service level to every order.
• Track the complete cost to serve members, including fulfillment, delivery, discounts, returns, and customer service.
• Use membership data to identify predictable demand and reduce last-minute inventory transfers or expedited transportation.

Tariff updates

How Russia and Iran sanctions could affect retail supply chains

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 authorizes tariffs of up to 100% on imports from countries that purchase Russian oil or natural gas or facilitate sanctions evasion. China and India are among the countries with potential exposure, but implementation will depend on future government action and may include exceptions or waivers.

China and India remain important sourcing markets for consumer electronics, home goods, apparel, textiles, jewelry, pharmaceuticals, and other retail products. Retailers should map country-of-origin exposure, model multiple tariff scenarios, and evaluate potential sourcing changes based on total landed cost and supply-chain risk rather than tariff rates alone.

C.H. Robinson's U.S. Tariff Impact Analysis tool, available within our global shipper platform, can help importers assess tariff exposure across products and suppliers, while the North American Trade & Tariff Insights page provides ongoing updates as implementation details emerge.

Other tariff news

• Trade tensions between the United States and Canada rose further as both parties imposed new tariffs on each other and the U.S. banned $1 billion worth of Canadian imports.
• The September U.S.-China summit produced several announcements. Most notably, both governments said they agreed to a new "30-for-30" framework that could reduce tariffs on approximately $30 billion of non-sensitive goods. A list of those goods has not been released.

For more information on these developments, see the Trade Policy & Customs section of this report.

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