Wal-Mart Sees 'Second-Mover Advantage' in E-Commerce
October 17 2017 - 1:40PM
Dow Jones News
By Laura Stevens
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. U.S. e-commerce
chief Marc Lore said the online retail division is still in growth
mode, the fruits of which will start paying off over the next two
years and help it better compete with Amazon.com Inc.
"E-commerce is a scale game," Mr. Lore said in an interview at
The Wall Street Journal's WSJ D.Live technology conference on
Tuesday. "We're looking at a lot of different things right now,
everything, in every sector."
Wal-Mart has been on an acquisition spree in the past year since
it acquired Mr. Lore's startup Jet.com for $3.3 billion and put Mr.
Lore in charge of its U.S. e-commerce business. Wal-Mart has
snapped up a string of trendy e-commerce startups, including
clothing sites Bonobos and ModCloth, as it tries to gain a foothold
with consumers who have previously shied away from shopping on its
own website.
Wal-Mart trails rival Amazon in online market share, but Mr.
Lore said Wal-Mart's built-in network of thousands of stores can
serve as hubs for online orders and distribution. Mr. Lore said
Wal-Mart has a "second-mover advantage."
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is working on a new design
for its e-commerce site and better deliveries so it can get goods
to more consumers in less than two hours or overnight -- a
cornerstone of Amazon's pitch.
Wal-Mart has said it is expanding its grocery delivery pilot
with Uber Technologies Inc. and even having store workers deliver
some orders in a test.
In January, the company said it was scrapping a $50 charge for a
two-day, no-cost shipping membership program -- similar to Amazon
Prime -- in favor of free shipping on any order over $35.
Amazon quickly moved to match, then lowered its minimum to
$25.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 17, 2017 13:25 ET (17:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024