Walmart Inc. on Thursday announced it has bought Mexico and Chile-based online marketplace Cornershop for $225 million. Cornershop offers on-demand delivery from supermarkets, pharmacies and specialty food retailers in Mexico and Chile and claims its unique user base has doubled in the last 12 months.
Cornershop will continue to deliver from a variety of retailers to customers in Mexico and Chile and its three founders—Oskar Hjertonsson, CEO; Daniel Undurraga, chief operating officer; and Juan Pablo Cuevas, chief technology officer—will continue to lead the business.
“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,” says Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International.
This is yet another piece of Walmart’s international expansion. Walmart acquired a 77% holding in Flipkart Group for $16 billion in May and a 12% stake in China’s JD.com Inc. in 2016. Additionally, the retail giant in August recently invested $500 million in Chinese online grocery service Dada-JD Daojia (which is part-owned by JD.com) and teamed up with Japan’s Rakuten Inc. to sell e-books in the United States and improve its online grocery business in the Asian nation.
Walmart is No. 3 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Top 1000.
In other e-commerce news:
- Albertsons Cos. Inc., No. 178 in the Top 1000, named its current president and chief operating officer Jim Donald as its new CEO. Robert Miller, who is the grocer’s current CEO, will remain with the company as chairman of the board. Donald joined Albertsons in March 2018. Prior to Albertsons, Donald was president and CEO of Starbucks for five years.
Albertsons serves 34 million customers and 5.5 million patients in its 2,300 grocery and 1,700 pharmacies across 35 states under 20 banners, including Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Vons. “That’s a significant food, health, and wellness footprint,” Donald says. “We’re well positioned to serve the evolving needs of today’s customer, wherever and whenever they choose to shop with us.” - Online marketplace for unique crafts and goods Etsy Inc., No. 13 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Online Marketplaces, announced that Linda Findley Kozlowski resigned as chief operating office to pursue other opportunities. Etsy does not intend to find a replacement for the role at this time.