Wal-Mart Gears Up for Bigger E-Commerce Expansion in Silicon Valley
There’s been speculation that since Wal-Mart’s latest stagnant quarter, the retailer would further invest into its e-commerce business to build sales back up. That speculation may prove to be true after all. Wal-Mart has struck a deal to lease about 107,000 square feet in Sunnyvale, with plans to hire hundreds of tech workers in the area to add to its growing workforce of about 550 employees. What does this mean for its growing digital business?
Sunnyvale has already proven to be a hotspot for big tech businesses like Google, LinkedIn, and Apple. With these latest investments, Wal-Mart might just be the next big player in the Silicon Valley. Bao Nguyen, a spokesman with Wal-Mart Global eCommerce, says that the company’s digital operations in Sunnyvale and San Bruno are helping build to build its e-commerce platform, its video-on-demand service, and its mobile shopping services.
“There is such a large concentration of engineers and technologies in Santa Clara County,” added Nguyen. “They can be found all over the Bay Area, but there is a huge density of that talent pool in the South Bay. Sunnyvale and the South Bay are very important to us for recruitment.”
It’s starting to become apparent that Wal-Mart sees huge value in e-commerce, especially since its online sales growth beat Amazon’s, while sales worldwide rose approximately 27%. For more on this story, check out the link below.
Click here to read: Wal-Mart Overtakes Amazon in Web Sales Growth in 2013
President and CEO Doug McMillon also sees areas of improvement in this digital sector, noting, “We have the opportunity to create transformative growth through stronger e –commerce capabilities.”
Wal-Mart is expected to move into the new site sometime this year as tenant improvements are underway to prepare the building.
Is this retailer planning for something bigger? As Wal-Mart gains a larger foothold in the Silicon Valley, it’ll be interesting to see what improvements will be made in its digital business. Still, I have to wonder…will other retailers start making similar investments as well?
Stay tuned as we continue following Wal-Mart’s expansion in the Silicon Valley.
Wal-Mart
