Following the example of so many supermarket chains before them, Walmart has finally opened its first e-commerce try-out in San José. The very first “Walmart to go” will allow customers to buy products online and let Walmart deliver them to their homes.
The new service would include almost every product Walmart offers in its offline shops, ranging from bread and fish to personal care products and over-the-counter drugs.
Trying to catch up with the competition
Walmart has been thinking and speaking of this step for years, but many other stores have already implemented what the world’s biggest retailer never dared to. In the US, online retailer Amazon and supermarkets Peapod showed the path, in the rest of the world it was mainly Carrefour who promoted it.
Reuters’s analysts have called the move to online shopping a risk, due to the short shelf life of fresh products and the low margins in distribution.
