Walmart will continue its surge in e-commerce with the acquisition of Cornershop, a leading online on-demand marketplace in Mexico and Chile.
The deal, worth $225 million, “is an important step forward in accelerating the company’s omni-channel capabilities and growth in Latin America”, Walmart said.
It adds to Walmart’s recent investment e-commerce – including Dada-JD Daojia in China, Rakuten in Japan, and Jet.com in the US, which US media say is spearheading a push from the world’s largest grocery retailer to launch grocery delivery services in New York.
Based in San Francisco, Cornershop enables on-demand deliveries from supermarkets, pharmacies and speciality food retailers that claims to be able to fulfil customers’ orders in one hour.
It is “rapidly building scale”, Walmart said, with the number of unique users double in the past 12 months.
Walmart president and CEO Judith McKenna said: “We are focused on making life easier for customers and associates by building strong local businesses, powered by Walmart. Cornershop’s digital expertise, technology and capabilities will strengthen our successful businesses in Mexico and Chile and provide learning for other markets in which we operate.
“This is an opportunity to leverage both of our brands, as well as Walmart’s strong supply chain and store network. Combining Cornershop’s innovative, crowdsourced delivery platform with Walmart’s unique assets will allow us to accelerate growth for both companies, delighting our customers by saving them both time and money. We are excited to welcome Cornershop to the Walmart family.”
Cornershop’s three founders – CEO Oskar Hjertonsson, chief operating officer Daniel Undurraga, and chief technology officer Juan Pablo Cuevas – will continue to lead the business.
And Walmart was quick to quell speculation that the deal might restrict competition or lead it edging rival retailers off the Cornershop app, saying “it will remain an open platform that will continue to deliver from a variety of retailers”.
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