Wal-Mart expands NY delivery, acquires parcel

Bloomberg

In a sign of the intensifying battle for New York’s online shoppers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acquired Parcel, a company specialising in same-day deliveries of groceries and meal kits.
The world’s largest retailer plans to use the business to offer free, same-day delivery in New York City—the most populous city in the US—as it continues to push into e-commerce to compete with Amazon.com Inc. Wal-Mart announced the purchase on its website, saying it paid less for Parcel than other acquisitions made this year, without giving more details on the terms.
Wal-Mart has sought to leverage its way into e-commerce through a string of acquisitions. It agreed to pay $310 million in cash for online apparel seller Bonobos Inc. earlier this year. In 2016, it purchased Jet.com Inc. for about $3.3 billion, with the website’s founder Marc Lore going on to become head of e-commerce for Wal-Mart.
“New York City is the top market for both Jet and Walmart.com, and because of the density of the area — along with the proximity of our fulfillment centers—it’s the perfect place for high-impact innovation,” Nate Faust, senior vice president
for the retailer’s e-commerce supply chain, said in a post on the company blog. “This acquisition allows us
to continue testing ways to offer
fast delivery while lowering our operating costs.”
Outside of New York, Wal-Mart and Jet have offered free two-day shipping for orders of $35 or more, an attempt to blunt the popularity of Amazon’s two-day guarantee for members of its Prime programme.