Far from its headquarters in Bentonville Arkansas Walmart is seeking to deliver stronger omnichannel offerings internationally The retailer recently announced that it was acquiring online marketplace Cornershop Inc which offers crowdsourced on-demand delivery in Chile and Mexico Through the service consumers can order goods from pharmacies supermarkets and specialty food retailers The idea behind the acquisition was to tap into the marketplaces knowledge and aptitude In a statement Walmart Internationals president and CEO Judith McKenna said Cornershops digital expertise technology and capabilities will strengthen our successful businesses in Mexico and Chile and provide learning for other markets in which we operate In addition McKenna said that the deal will generate synergies between the two companies as it could accelerate growth for both companies Walmart plans to pay 225 million for the fast-growing platform that has seen its number of unique users double in the past 12 months The transaction however is not a done deal as it is subject to regulatory approval As part of the agreement Cornershop will remain an open platform and its three founders Oskar Hjertonsson Daniel Undurraga and Juan Pablo Cuevas will continue to lead the business along with their teams Amazon is also bolstering its eCommerce efforts in Mexico It plans to start offering drinks and food in the country such as sweets snacks and beverages In terms of selection Amazon Mexicos senior product manager Fernando Ramirez said earlier this year that the retailer is committed to offering our clients as many products as we can Despite interest from Amazon eCommerce still makes up only a small portion of all retail sales in Mexico However the segment has grown quickly and Amazon along with its competitors is seeking to ramp up its focus on technology product offerings and logistics Amazons move in particular could help the retailer vie with Walmart de Mexico Amazon also faces competition from Walmart as the latter bolsters its eCommerce and omnichannel efforts in other markets Global eCommerce Transformations Cornershop is hardly Walmarts most sizable international investment in recent times In India Walmarts 16 billion investment in online marketplace Flipkart is moving along with the approval of the countrys anti-trust regulator To that end the Competition Commission of India CCI announced that it had approved the proposed acquisition in an August tweet That news followed a May announcement from the retailer it was acquiring about 77 percent of Flipkart for around 16 billion At the time it was reported that the acquisition would be the biggest deal for Indias eCommerce sector In an announcement of the acquisition Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world given its size and growth rate and our investment is an opportunity to partner with the company that is leading the transformation of eCommerce in the market To that end Euromonitor reports that online sales in India are currently growing about 35 percent a year fueled by a rising middle class demonetization and an increasing push toward urbanization Amazon has also boosted its efforts in the country The eCommerce retailer is rolling out support for Hindi on its India apps and website to reach local customers in their own language Support for the language is particularly important for Amazon as the retailer seeks to make India a major market Amazon Indias director of customer experience andmMarketing told the New York Times that the companys next 100 million customers will have to be in the vernacular language Beyond India and South America Walmart has also turned its efforts towards China There the retailer invested 320 million in the round of funding for grocery and delivery company Dada-JD Daojia That firm is partly owned by Chinese eCommerce retailer JDcom and operates two businesses Dada the delivery service that has a network of five million delivery people and JD Daojia which partners with retails stores to provide delivery services Walmart is no stranger to Dada-JD The retailer has had a partnership with Daojia since 2016 when it invested 50 million In a statement at the time Walmart Chinas president and CEO Wern-Yuen Tan said We are confident that this deeper collaboration with Dada-JD Daojia will enhance our omnichannel footprint and deliver a better online to offline O2O customer experience Additionally Reuters noted that Walmart is aiming to integrate its retail network in the country with the smart retail movement happening That shift in which retailers and tech companies meld online and offline shopping appears to be of interest to Walmart as it plans to acquire Cornershop amid its omnichannel investments around the globe NEW DATA Why Banking Consumers Prefer Convenience Over Security No one is safe from cybercrime Yet even with looming risk of fraud at an all-time high most consumers care more about convenience than data security 705 percent like authentication methods that are easy to use The inaugural edition of the Digital Identity Lifestyle Capsule report examines more than 150 data points and explores why speed convenience and ease of use can make or break consumers relationship with their bank Related Items Cornershop Doug McMillon ecommerce Flipkart omnichannel Retail walmart