Walmart Extends Delivery Network Beyond Its Stores With Papa John’s

A pizza order will soon make Walmart’s delivery network stop at a restaurant before reaching the customer’s front door. The retailer said September 10 that it will bring Papa John’s pizzas, sides and desserts into Walmart Express Delivery, beginning in select U.S. markets this fall and expanding to thousands of participating locations.

The arrangement is strategically different from Walmart’s earlier restaurant deals with Subway and Dunkin’. Papa John’s is the first national restaurant brand in the program whose stores operate outside Walmart locations, forcing the delivery system to coordinate an additional pickup point rather than simply collect food from an in-store tenant.

Customers will be able to order Papa John’s by itself or add it to a Walmart basket containing groceries, household products or other merchandise. Walmart’s Spark driver network will handle deliveries, while orders will be placed through the Walmart app or Walmart.com.

That combination matters because Walmart is trying to make its delivery infrastructure do more than move retail goods. The company’s second-quarter fiscal 2027 results showed global e-commerce sales rising 23%, with Walmart U.S. store-fulfilled delivery growing about 43%, according to its earnings presentation. Walmart has also been expanding delivery in under 30 minutes, a service it said was available across 33 U.S. markets in May.

The Papa John’s deal gives that capacity another demand stream, but it also introduces a tougher operational test. Hot food has a narrower delivery window than detergent or paper towels, and a mixed order may require drivers to synchronize restaurant preparation with Walmart fulfillment. Poor coordination could raise costs or undermine the convenience Walmart is selling.

For Papa John’s International, the partnership offers a new customer-acquisition channel at a difficult moment. North American systemwide sales fell 8% in the second quarter of 2026, while the company reported diluted earnings of 24 cents a share, down from 28 cents a year earlier. Placement inside Walmart’s shopping experience could expose the chain to households that do not regularly visit its own app.

Walmart is not simply adding pizza. It is building a marketplace around immediacy, using stores, drivers and digital traffic to challenge the role traditionally played by DoorDash and Uber Eats. The financial payoff will depend on whether restaurant orders bring incremental Walmart purchases often enough to offset the extra delivery complexity.