Its official! Wal-Mart announced Monday of buying e-commerce site Jet.com Inc. The retail giant has reportedly purchased the one-year-old company for $3.3 billion which includes $3 billion in cash and $300 million in stock.
Wal-Mart also confirmed that after the acquisition, Jet.com will continue to work as a separate 
entity.
In a conference call with the investors, Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart stated, “This is Walmart being even more committed to winning in e-commerce. 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.’’
The news of the purchase comes as a shocker given that Jet.com was launched just a year ago on July 21,2015. Within a short span Jet.com’s gross merchandising value was $1 billion. The acquisition process is expected to close this year after the completion of all the regulatory formalities.
In terms of online business, Wal-Mart was on a downward spiral for a long time. Last month, the US based retailer said it will sell its Yihaodian website to JD.com Inc, the second-largest online retailer in China.
Many analysts believe the purchase will help Wal-Mart dominate the e-commerce realm and even empower the retailer to compete with online shopping mogul Amazon.
McMillon stated, “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. Our customers will win. It’s another jolt of entrepreneurial spirit being injected into Walmart.”
Marc Lore, the CEO of Jet.com will be heading both Jet and Walmart online. A recent report by Chicago Tribune suggests that Jet.com added 400,000 new customers per month and had over 25,000 daily processed orders.
Will Wal-Mart expand its e-commerce growth and customer reach after this acquisition? Only time will tell!
