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“This gets us into Thunder Bay and Sudbury, and gets us into these markets where customers are underserved,” Porter said.

Walmart’s customers can currently pick up food orders for free at its stores offering online fresh grocery items, but unlike the store-picked model used for food, Walmart’s online merchandise orders destined for store pickup will be sourced from its warehouses.

Canadian Tire, which has been experimenting with home delivery of online orders in the Ottawa area, has offered free pickup of items sold online to customers at their local store.

Beyond its roots in general merchandise, Walmart has been steadily encroaching on traditional food retailers’ business in Canada, where the retailer saw net sales rise 2.9 per cent in the first quarter and store traffic increase by 0.8 per cent. Walmart Canada’s market share of food, consumables, and health and wellness items increased 70 basis points in the period, according to Nielsen data.

“In Canada, we’re investing in price and customers are responding as we continued to gain market share in key traffic driving categories like food and consumables,” Doug McMillon, Walmart Inc.’s chief executive, said in a statement on Thursday.

The news came after a report last week from Kevin Grier Analysis and Consulting that revealed sales of food at traditional grocery and convenience stores were flat last year, while food sales at general merchants such as Walmart and Costco soared 15 per cent in 2017. BMO estimates that Walmart now accounts for 10 per cent of grocery sales in Canada, up from a market share of nine per cent in 2013. It began selling groceries in Canada in 2006.