Walmart announced yesterday that it is expanding its digital presence in Latin America with the $225 million acquisition of Cornershop, an online marketplace for on-demand delivery from supermarkets in Mexico and Chile. While that move continued the retail giant’s global spending spree, domestically, the company’s subsidiary Jet.com unveiled a revamped website featuring enhanced grocery delivery options in New York City.
Walmart’s purchase of Cornershop is the latest international acquisition for the company. In just this year Walmart has:
- Paid $16 billion for a 77 percent stake in India’s Flipkart (which is hoping to learn more about the grocery biz from Walmart)
- Invested in $320 million in Chinese grocery delivery company Dada-JD Daojia.
- Announced a strategic partnership with Japanese firm Rakuten, which includes a launch of an online grocery delivery service by the end of this year.
Rather than going head-on in its battle with rival, Amazon, Walmart seems to be going around and flanking it, shoring up e-commerce and digital resources around the world.
That’s not to say Walmart has given up its fight against Amazon here in the U.S. Yesterday also saw Walmart company Jet.com launch a revamped website with a new grocery shopping service catering specifically to New York City dwellers.
As part of its pitch to the Empire City, Jet.com is offering products from iconic local businesses there such as Bedford Cheese Shop, Orwashers Bakery and Just Bagels. Customers will also be able to purchase high-end craft beer for delivery.
The delivery itself is also getting an overhaul with next-day and three-hour schedule delivery windows for groceries and more. Delivery will be powered by Parcel, which Walmart acquired last year.
Obviously Walmart/Jet isn’t going to stop at New York City. Look for this type of local-and-fast e-commerce experience to scale out nationwide. Walmart is already putting those pieces together with the recent launch of its Spark Delivery service. Between the logistics data and experience it gets from Parcel, and the local purchase and delivery data Spark will provide, Walmart and Jet will be able to better target customers in different regions around the country.
And with its push into foreign markets, it won’t be too long before it will do it around the world.
Leave a Reply