Report: Wal-Mart in talks to buy Amazon competitor, Jet.com

Wal-Mart Stores is in talks to buy start-up Jet.com, an online retailer that has styled itself as a challenger to Amazon, the Wall Street Journal reported.



The acquisition would give a big boost to Wal-Mart’s digital efforts, as well as its efforts to compete with Amazon. At the company’s annual shareholders meetings in June, Wal-Mart CEO Doug said the discounter planned to become more aggressive in growing its online business.



Jet.com, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, uses a proprietary algorithm to find the lowest possible price on each item from its network of retail partners, and offers free two-to-five day shipping for orders more than $35. Jet initially charged a $50 membership fee, but it eliminated the fee after only a few months.



The online start-up recently started testing a home delivery service for groceries.