Walmart Buys Brooklyn Same-Day Delivery Startup Parcel
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Walmart is increasing its same-day delivery ability to New Yorkers through the acquisition of small Brooklyn-based company Parcel.
The announcement comes just a few days after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. introduced higher-end, online groceries that are aimed at younger urbanites. Parcel will deliver fresh and frozen groceries from Walmart and its company, Jet.com, as well as general merchandise. Walmart purchased online retailer Jet for more than $3 billion last year.
Since buying Jet. com, the retail giant has developed more targeted online shopping services such as "Uniquely J," which aims at everyday goods for "metro millennials."
Walmart's focus on fast, local delivery shows how priorities have shifted for major retailers as they travel to shoppers' homes, rather than the other way around.
The move is aimed against competitors like Amazon.com, which recently broadened from online to brick-and-mortar retail through the acquisition of Whole Foods.
Nate Faust, senior vice president of Walmart's U.S. eCommerce supply chain, said in a company release that Parcel already has partnerships with several meal kit, grocery and e-commerce companies, and has delivered more than 1 million meals in the past two years.
Walmart is not saying how much it paid for Parcel, other than that it was smaller than a number of acquisitions it's made in the past year. The transaction closed on Friday.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
