Walmart Links Up With Adobe in E-commerce Tech Business Push
Walmart is parlaying its tech push into yet another avenue of business.
The retailer said Wednesday that it will start offering cloud services and a number of other technologies to retailers operating on software company Adobe’s e-commerce platform. In doing so, the retailer said it is entering a “strategic partnership” with Adobe in order to connect Adobe Commerce, its tech business, with Walmart’s own marketplace platform and other e-commerce resources.
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“The core mission of helping people save money and live better is at the heart of every idea including scan and go and checkout technologies, [artificial intelligence]-powered smart substitutions, and pickup and delivery,” Walmart’s chief technology officer Suresh Kumar said in a statement.
“Combining Adobe’s strength in powering commerce experiences with our unmatched omni-customer expertise, we can accelerate other companies’ digital transformations,” he said.
The move would allow retailers operating on the Adobe commerce platform to connect with Walmart Marketplace, the retailer’s third-party seller platform, and to use Walmart’s infrastructure on fulfillment and pick-up services, according to Walmart. Such a tie up would allow those retailers to use Walmart’s services including two-day shipping, according to the companies.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Walmart to help Adobe merchants expand their businesses to new channels and offer shopping experiences that increase their competitiveness and fit well with shifting consumer behaviors in an increasingly digital economy,” Anil Chakravarthy, executive vice president and general manager, digital experience business and worldwide field operations at Adobe, said in a statement.
Walmart’s latest technology venture comes on the heels of a years-long e-commerce investment push that has accelerated during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, Walmart has pushed its home delivery and curbside pick-up services, and introduced the Walmart+ subscription service for faster home deliveries, as the retailer competes with the likes of Amazon Prime.
“We’ve built new capabilities to serve the evolving needs of our own customers, and we have a unique opportunity to use our experience to help other businesses do the same,” Walmart U.S. chief executive officer John Furner said in a statement Wednesday.
“Commercializing our technologies and capabilities helps us sustainably reinvest back into our customer value proposition,” he said.
The move also comes at a time when the company has been expanding its other businesses including advertising, financial and health care businesses. In January, Walmart unveiled a partnership with investment firm Ribbit Capital to build a fintech start-up to offer expanding financial services to customers to encourage them to shop at Walmart. The retailer has also touted its fast-growing advertising business, which it rebranded as “Walmart Connect.”
