Walmart, Instacart
team up on delivery
Walmart Inc. is working with grocery-delivery service Instacart on a pilot program in four cities, Walmart confirmed Tuesday. Shoppers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Tulsa began testing the service Tuesday morning, the Bentonville retailer said.
Instacart will continue its existing partnership with Sam's Club, Walmart's members-only warehouse division. Instacart says its service is available to more than 85% of U.S. households and 70% of Canadian households.
Walmart said in a statement that its pickup and delivery services have proved popular with customers, especially during the pandemic. The partnership with Instacart allows it to reach new customers as it looks to expand delivery beyond the nearly 3,000 stores that serve about two-thirds of American households, the company said.
Discussions of a partnership between the two companies reportedly ended in 2018 when Walmart and Instacart couldn't agree over whose app shoppers would use to place their orders. Walmart did not say how the impasse was resolved or which app customers are using in the pilot program.
-- Serenah McKay
Entergy offers new
payment assistance
Entergy Arkansas is offering an enhanced payment plan to help its customers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The electric utility's customer-assistance plan includes flexible options to extend time to pay and waiving late fees, if applicable. Any customer experiencing financial hardship is eligible to take up to 12 months to pay a current bill or unpaid balance.
"We recognize that the covid-19 pandemic is still affecting our customers and understand how disruptive this continues to be," said Michael Considine, Entergy Arkansas vice president of customer service. "We want to do everything we can to help our customers, which is why we encourage any customers needing assistance to contact us now so we can work with you."
Customers with past-due balances should contact Entergy to make payment arrangements and discuss other assistance offers while available. The company serves more than 700,000 customers in Arkansas.
Customers can call (800) 368-3749 for assistance.
-- Andrew Moreau
Arkansas Index gains
1.09, ends at 437.93
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 437.93, up 1.09.
"A mixed to slightly higher stock market shifted to a lower close on Tuesday after comments about a stalemate in talks over a fiscal stimulus deal pushed technology shares lower," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.