Jet.com is leaving the fresh grocery delivery game
Just one year after it got in.
In 2016, Walmart bought the e-commerce retailer Jet.com for $3 billion. Many saw the move as an attempt to compete with Amazon, and around this time last year, Walmart began offering grocery deliveries through Jet.com to customers in NYC. It planned to expand the service into Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. But just one year later, it's pulling the plug.
Jet.com will no longer deliver fresh groceries in New York. It will focus, instead, on dry goods and merchandise. As part of the change, Walmart will reportedly close the fulfillment center it was using in the Bronx, eliminating between 200 and 300 jobs, a person familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.
In a statement emailed to Engadget, a Walmart spokesperson said the company "learned a lot by testing Jet fresh grocery delivery in New York City" and will "continue to test bold concepts that can offer convenience to customers." Though, from the outside, it looks like Walmart tried to mimic an Amazon service and failed.
Walmart's full statement is available below:
"We learned a lot by testing Jet fresh grocery delivery in New York City, and we recognized the important role our stores play in providing an efficient way to offer groceries to customers through pickup and delivery. We will focus our grocery pickup and delivery in markets where we have this incredible opportunity. Jet will continue to offer millions of dry grocery and general merchandise items to customers in major metros like New York City. And, we'll continue to test bold concepts that can offer convenience to customers."
