Retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) continues to branch out into new markets with its latest announced offerings, which include selling pet insurance for customers' cats and dogs and several other services related to people's animal companions. According to the company's announcement, these services will fall under the umbrella of the Walmart Pet Care business segment. Melody Richard, merchandising vice president for Walmart's pets segment, noted the impetus for pet services expansion comes from the coronavirus, saying adoption rates have risen "as a result of the pandemic." According to the company, 98% of America's pets are still uninsured; Walmart said it provides an affordable coverage option. Image source: Getty Images. Walmart is also launching pet-sitting and dog-walking services through Rover. Pet boarding and drop-in visits are also available in the new suite of services. In response to sharply increased demand for many different kinds of services while the COVID-19 virus spread across the United States and the world, Walmart has added a plethora of new programs during 2020. Two days ago it announced a partnership that will see self-driving electric taxis delivering purchases in an Arizona test run in April 2021, while earlier initiatives have included everything from drone deliveries to selling health insurance. According to some analysts, Walmart and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) are duking it out for the No. 1 retail position in the economy. Amazon has some key advantages in e-commerce and third-party sellers, while Walmart+ encroaches on Amazon's subscription segment. The outcome of this jockeying remains uncertain, but Walmart's expanded services such as Walmart Pet Care will likely make it more flexible and responsive to ongoing challenges. 10 stocks we like better than Walmart Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Walmart Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2020 John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Rhian Hunt has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and recommends the following options: short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source