Walmart partners with Chinese fast delivery app Meituan
Walmart China is teaming with an online delivery provider that offers fulfillment of digital orders to customer homes within 30 minutes.
The Chinese subsidiary of Walmart Inc. announced in a statement on its WeChat messenger app account that all its products are now available for delivery from all stores via the Meituan app. Walmart China said that it expects this new partnership to further grow its e-commerce business, which already represents almost half of its sales.
"We aim to provide consumers with high-quality, diversified retail options through a seamless integration of platforms and channels," Zhu Jun, chief procurement officer of Walmart China, said in the WeChat statement.
The two companies plan to widen the scope of the partnership to include expanding product selection and enhancing digital customer service and marketing.
This move comes as Walmart has been shaking up its operations in China, a market it first entered in 1996 and where it now operates nearly 400 stores under the Walmart and Sam’s Club banners as well as multiple e-commerce sites.
In August 2024, Walmart changed the nature of its eight-year partnership with JD, the second-largest e-commerce platform in China, by selling its 144.5 million shares in the company for $24.95 each, or roughly $3.6 billion.
At the same time, Walmart has been expanding its proprietary presence in China. August also saw the discounter update its Walmart Cross Border ocean shipping solution to provide seaborne transportation from select ports of loading in China to hosted Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) facilities in the U.S. for streamlined sale on its third-party online marketplace.
[READ MORE: Walmart opens hosted U.S. fulfillment to Chinese goods]
Other Walmart China technology innovations have included being one of the first retailers in China to roll out a smartphone app that customers can use in store for scan-and-go as well as for online shopping and delivery tracking, and also opening “cloud depots” to provide one-hour delivery service in areas beyond the reach of a physical Sam’s Club.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
