Walmart said that it has invested in Yihaodian, an e-commerce company in China.
When the deal closes in 60 days or so, Walmart will be a minority investor.
Yihaodian launched in 2008 and offers 75,000 items. The site focuses on online groceries, items for babies and moms, consumer electronics and clothing. The company has 2,000 employees and a logistics network in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
For Walmart, the investment is another beachhead in e-commerce. Last month, Walmart acquired Kosmix in an effort to blend social networking and e-commerce for $300 million. In a statement, Eduardo Castro-Wright, CEO of Walmart global e-commerce and sourcing, said the company is “moving forward on fulfilling our aspiration of being the leading global multichannel retailer.”
Many retailers are pursuing multichannel efforts, but Walmart will need to grow its ecommerce efforts to move the revenue needle. After all, Walmart has annual sales of $419 billion.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
