The news: Walmart will begin allowing customers to order food from Papa John’s through its Express Delivery service via its mobile app and website, with delivery in 30 minutes, per Bloomberg.

• Customers can order Papa John’s separately or add it to an order with other Walmart purchases.
• The partnership will launch in select markets in the coming weeks before expanding to thousands of Papa John’s locations across the US.

Zooming in: The partnership comes just a week after Walmart announced it would let consumers order from Dunkin’ through its app and website. But the Papa John’s deal represents a notable expansion of that strategy. While Walmart is launching Dunkin’ delivery through 150 locations inside its stores before expanding to most of the chain’s roughly 10,000 locations, the Papa John’s partnership will rely entirely on restaurants outside Walmart’s physical footprint.

• Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of ecommerce fulfillment innovation, told Bloomberg the retailer is focused on expanding its restaurant options to better serve consumers.
• As we suggested last week, Walmart’s partnership with Inspire-owned Dunkin’ could pave the way for it to quickly add other chains in the company’s portfolio, including Jimmy John’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Arby’s.

Why it matters: By layering restaurant delivery onto its existing store and logistics network, Walmart is taking another step toward becoming a super-app, giving consumers more reasons to open its app and order more frequently. It also gives Walmart a foothold in the restaurant delivery intermediary market, which we expect to grow 15.8% to $118.39 billion in sales this year.

Implications for retailers: Walmart sees clear benefits in restaurant delivery. The service can boost engagement and order frequency while getting more mileage out of its existing logistics network.