Walmart has launched a new grocery service that is aimed at boosting delivery efficiency and reducing the costs of grocery deliveries, according to its Chief Executive Officer, Mike Duke.

 The grocery delivery program will be launched later this year, with Walmart’s first customers expected to be small businesses.

In a blog post, Mr Duke said the new service would be available for customers in more than 130 countries around the world, with the majority of the country’s grocery deliveries to be delivered in the US.

“The first customers of Walmart’s Walmart-branded grocery delivery will be small and medium-sized businesses,” Mr Duke wrote.

The announcement comes as the US Federal Government seeks to lower the cost of food and other products through a programme known as the “Walmart tax”, which would see consumers pay an additional 1 per cent on their grocery bills.

Currently, a Walmart grocery delivery charge of $4.99 would be applied to the amount of food or other product delivered.

The new service, dubbed Walmart’s grocery delivery, would allow shoppers to pay a single fee of $14.99, which would apply to a single order.

Customers would then have the option to pick up the groceries from the store, and have their groceries delivered to their door within a matter of minutes, instead of the five to seven hours currently required.

Walmart is already offering the service to small businesses, and Mr Duke added that the new option would allow the company to reach a wider range of customers.

“The Walmart grocery store is already one of the fastest-growing retail outlets in the world.

With Walmart’s fast-growing customer base, we believe we have the potential to increase the delivery speed and efficiency of our grocery delivery services,” Mr Wade said.

Earlier this year Walmart announced that it was working on a new delivery service, which is being called Walmart’s Whole Foods Express.

At the time, Walmart said the service would allow customers to pick from a range of groceries and cook meals from scratch, instead the five- to seven-hour delivery times that the company currently uses.