Walmart Prez Blogs About ‘Five Big Reasons We Bought Jet’
On the heels of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s completion of its $3 billion cash acquisition of Jet.com, Inc. – news of which he initially shared on Instagram – Doug McMillon, president/CEO of the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, authored a blog post (found below) describing “The Five Big Reasons We Bought Jet.”
As PG previously reported and analyzed, Walmart will fund the all-cash Jet.com deal with a portion of payments spread over time, along with $300 million of Walmart shares, which will also be paid out incrementally.
With the close of the deal, Marc Lore, founder and CEO of Hoboken, N.J.-based Jet.com, is fully aboard the mega-retailer’s leadership team and will lead both Walmart.com and Jet.com, reporting to McMillon, as EVP of Walmart and president and CEO of Walmart e-Commerce in the United States..
“I can’t wait to jump in and get started,” Lore said. “I’ll be spending a lot of time with the team in the coming weeks and months, focused on scaling Walmart.com and Jet.com, building on our solid foundations. Together, we will be stronger and move even faster to reimagine the future of shopping.”
Meanwhile, excerpts of McMillon’s blog follow below:
"The close of this deal marks a big day for both companies. A lot of folks ask me, ‘Why Jet.com?’ The answer is simple: Walmart and Jet.com obsess about saving customers time and money. By joining forces, we’ll be better at doing both, creating seamless shopping from app to site to store.
"Here are a few more reasons why we’re excited about this deal:
1) Jet.com brings more ways to serve our customers and reach new customers online. Jet.com created a unique, transparent way for customers to shop, helping them make choices that lower their prices as they shop – from building smarter baskets to opting out of free returns and using debit cards. This has helped Jet.com win fans among savvy shoppers and will help us put the power to save in more shoppers’ hands. Look for that on Walmart.com.
2) The deal will build on our e-commerce foundation and accelerate growth. We’ve grown Walmart.com to the second-largest online retailer by traffic in the U.S., and in just the past six months, we’ve expanded from 7 million items to more than 15 million on the site. We’re adding about a million more each month. We’ve built an impressive fulfillment network that uses mega-sized fulfillment centers and our stores to get orders to customers faster. Within a year, we’ve created one of the largest online grocery businesses in the country.
3) Jet.com’s and Walmart.com’s customer bases are complementary. Jet.com is a hit among urban millennials, and it will continue to focus on delivering premium brands and experiences. Walmart.com is winning value-conscious shoppers with everyday low prices by keeping costs low. And that’s enhanced by a wide assortment and convenient store pickup options. Together, both Jet.com and Walmart.com will be able to leverage each other’s assets to grow the ways we serve customers.
4) Jet.com boasts incredible talent. Marc is both a visionary e-commerce leader and a merchant. He brings with him a smart and talented team that, when combined with ours, will be the best in retail.
5) Together, Jet.com and Walmart can win the future of retail. We’re in the business of ‘saving people money so that they can live better.’ But the value of our customers’ time cannot be overstated. To win the future of retail, we must save customers both money and time. By combining with Jet.com’s technology, shopping experience, customers and talent, we will do exactly that. We will exceed their expectations!"
Indeed, the high expectations – and equally high stakes of what comes next for this high-profile partnership – will be well worth watching.
Count me in among those interested in seeing how the new deal flies in the months and years ahead.