If you've been waiting for a new Walmart supercenter to open in your town, don't hold your breath.
Walmart has become the biggest retailer in the world thanks to its 11,500 stores. But guess what? These days, the big-box operator is a little more interested in talking up its online persona, Walmart.com, which it hopes will help re-energize sales and challenge Amazon.
At an investor event Thursday, Walmart executives laid out a plan to pour billions more dollars into online expansion, while cutting down new store openings.
"This company over time is going to look more like an e-commerce company," CEO Doug McMillon told the crowd.
Walmart is hoping this big investment will build up its marketplace of independent merchants selling on Walmart.com, improve shipping speeds and jump-start its stalled online sales growth. The retailer expects to double its number of large-scale warehouses used for online sales to 10 by year's end, according to a Thursday report from Reuters.
Walmart has gotten much more serious about e-commerce this year. It closed a $3.3 billion purchase last month for online retail startup Jet.com, and on Wednesday it nearly doubled its investment in JD.com, the second-biggest e-commerce player in China.
All these online efforts could help Walmart become a more significant competitor to Amazon -- the dominant player in e-commerce -- giving consumers more shopping choices and helping keep prices down. Also, for smaller merchants, having other strong marketplaces around could ensure they don't have to rely too much on Amazon for their sales.
Courtesy of CNet
