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Walmart and Amazon are intensifying their race to speed up online order deliveries across rural America, targeting a market long overlooked by major retailers due to its perceived challenges, including low population density and distance.
Walmart currently holds a lead in this contest, with about 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of one of its stores. Nearly half of Walmart’s full-service Supercenters are located in communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, according to research from Morgan Stanley. This footprint gives Walmart a strong foundation to build a loyal customer base in rural areas.
Analysts estimate that rural markets could generate up to $1 trillion in annual sales, a figure gaining attention as populations grow in small towns and suburban fringes, fueled in part by remote work trends.
Technological advancements supporting remote work are also enabling these retail giants to improve delivery logistics. Amazon invested $4 billion last year to expand same-day or next-day delivery to 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities, including places like Lewes, Delaware; Milton, Florida; Padre Island, Texas; and Abbeville, Louisiana.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently shared that the average monthly number of customers receiving same-day delivery doubled in 2025 compared to the previous year. The company is leveraging AI tools to better predict demand and is setting up micro delivery hubs in rural areas to enhance service speed.
Meanwhile, Walmart is deploying drones to serve underserved regions, emphasizing its commitment to these customers even as some delivery providers, including FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service, reduce or slow service to less profitable rural destinations.
David Guggina, CEO of Walmart U.S., noted last fall that rural residents deserve the same fast delivery options enjoyed in metropolitan hubs like Manhattan.
Delivering packages in rural regions remains challenging due to greater distances between stops and difficult terrain, which increases delivery times and costs. Yet, rural areas have seen economic improvements, with median household incomes rising 43% from 2010 to 2022, reaching nearly $60,000, according to McKinsey.
The U.S. Census Bureau also highlights that exurban areas, up to 60 miles from city centers, rank among the fastest-growing regions. Rural consumers spend about $1 trillion annually on a wide range of goods, representing 20% of total U.S. retail sales outside of autos and fuel.
Other retailers are responding to this opportunity as well. Dollar General recently expanded same-day delivery to over 17,000 of its locations, with 80% of orders arriving within an hour. Tractor Supply is growing its delivery hubs to support customers, especially for large items like fencing and lawn equipment, planning to open more than 150 new hubs in 2024.
Both Walmart and Amazon continue to expand their use of delivery drones and combine innovative strategies. Walmart is leveraging its brick-and-mortar stores with robotic systems that pick and pack online orders, enabling faster delivery within expanded radii around store locations. For example, a Walmart Supercenter in Bentonville, Arkansas, now delivers groceries within a 30-mile radius, up from 10 miles a few years ago.
Walmart’s use of a hexagonal mapping system has also broadened same-day delivery access to 12 million more households by optimizing delivery zones beyond traditional ZIP code boundaries.
Amazon, which recently closed its physical Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, is focusing on building small delivery hubs near clusters of rural communities. These hubs receive packages from large fulfillment centers and then dispatch them via local contractors, aiming to cut delivery times from up to five days to under two.
For instance, Amazon’s new hub in Roanoke, Virginia, manages tens of thousands of packages daily, reaching customers up to 90 minutes away in both urban and rural areas.
In St. George, Utah, an Amazon facility has shortened delivery times despite the area’s challenging mountainous terrain. Resident and local chamber of commerce operations manager Dalton Klinger noted that items which once took four days to arrive now come within two, reflecting growing demand for faster service in rural communities.
As these retail giants refine their rural delivery networks, Americans outside big cities can expect quicker, more reliable access to a wide range of products-bringing the convenience of online shopping closer to home.