Walmart has offloaded its Chinese online grocery division in exchange for a minority shareholding in the People’s Republic’s second largest e-tailer.
The deal will see JD.com take ownership of the Yihaodian online marketplace, while Walmart will receive close to 145m newly issued shares in JD.com, equating to a 5 per cent stake in the e-commerce company.
Walmart moved to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Yihaodian last year, suggesting the online platform would be crucial to its growth plans in China. However, Yihaodian has struggled to gain significant traction in the Asian nation’s highly competitive online sector, which is dominated by JD.com and its market leading rival Alibaba Group.
Walmart said the agreement includes a wide range of business initiatives, covering both online and offline retail, including its highly successful cash and carry chain Sam’s Club.
“For Walmart, the alliance greatly expands its opportunity in China e-commerce and provides its stores and Sam’s Clubs with potential traffic from JD.com’s significant base of online customers and vast same-day delivery network to serve its customers,” Walmart said in a statement on its website.
“JD.com will leverage Yihaodian’s strong brand and business in eastern and southern China and in key product categories such as high-quality grocery and household goods, both of which complement its own geographical and product strengths. In addition, JD.com’s customers will gain access to a wide range of new and imported items from Walmart and Sam’s Club.”
Sam’s Club will also open a flagship store on JD.com, offering same and next-day delivery through JD.com’s nationwide warehousing and delivery network, which covers a population of 600m consumers.
“Walmart and JD.com will work together to leverage their supply chains to increase the product selection for customers across China, including broadening the range of imported products,” according to the Walmart statement.
