(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said on Tuesday, it has acquired Parcel Inc, a New York-based last-mile delivery startup, as the retailer seeks to better compete with e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).
Parcel, a 24/7 operation that delivers packages the same-day, overnight and in scheduled two-hour windows, was bought for an undisclosed amount “smaller than previous acquisitions” Wal-Mart made this year, the discount retailer said.
“We plan to leverage Parcel for last mile delivery to customers in New York City – including same-day delivery – for both general merchandise as well as fresh and frozen groceries from Walmart and Jet,” Wal-Mart said in a blog post. bit.ly/2wv4iV7
Wal-Mart said in June it would buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc for $310 million, on the same day Amazon unveiled a $13.7 billion deal to buy upmarket grocer Whole Foods Market Inc.
The company also bought internet retailer Jet.com for about $3 billion last year in the largest-ever deal for an e-commerce startup.
A Wal-Mart representative declined to disclose the Parcel deal value. Parcel was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.
Recode reported citing a source that the acquisition price was less than $10 million.
Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier
That’s nice. Thanks for sharing the information. But it seems like increase in online sales would likely to reduce the number of necessary Walmart locations and employees, potentially leading to more store closures.