Walmart to Acquire Jet.com in $3 Billion Deal
Posted on August 8, 2016
Walmart has announced a $3 billion deal to acquire Jet.com. The news confirms rumors that broke over the weekend. The deal also gives Walmart Hayneedle, which Jet.com acquired earlier this year.
Jet was founded and 2014 and officially launched in summer 2015. It features a dynamic pricing algorithm to try and beat prices at other retailers, such as Walmart's major rival Amazon.com. The online store has clearly grown very rapidly in order to achieve such a large valuation so quickly. Walmart says Jet has 12 million SKUs and 25,000 daily processed orders. It adds about 400,000 new shoppers monthly.
Walmart says in a release that it will retain Jet as a distinct brand from Walmart. It says the Jet.com site will utilize technologies from both companies. The Jet.com site will also continue to have a different customer experience and product assortment.
Jet co-founder and CEO Marc Lore says in a statement, "We started Jet with the vision of creating a new shopping experience. Today, I couldn't be more excited that we will be joining with Walmart to help fuel the realization of that vision. The combination of Walmart's retail expertise, purchasing scale, sourcing capabilities, distribution footprint, and digital assets – together with the team, technology and business we have built here at Jet – will allow us to deliver more value to customers."
Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., says, "We're looking for ways to lower prices, broaden our assortment and offer the simplest, easiest shopping experience because that’s what our customers want. We believe the acquisition of Jet accelerates our progress across these priorities. Walmart.com will grow faster, the seamless shopping experience we're pursuing will happen quicker, and we'll enable the Jet brand to be even more successful in a shorter period of time."