Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it has taken full ownership of
Yihaodian, its Chinese e-commerce venture, solidifying the online
retailer as a central part of Wal-Mart's strategy in the
region.
Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Earlier this month, the co-founders of Yihaodian announced their
departures, adding to speculation that Wal-Mart planned to add to
its then-51% stake in the online retailer.
"With full ownership of Yihaodian, Walmart plans to invest in
both accelerating e-commerce and creating a seamless experience for
customers across online, mobile and stores," said the company in a
statement.
Wal-Mart acquired the remaining Yihaodian shares from Ping An of
China, a financial services group, and the co-founders, former
Chairman Yu Gang and former CEO Lui Junling, who both left earlier
this month. Lu Wang, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce
in Asia, will lead Yihaodian as part of his overall executive
responsibilities, Wal-Mart said in a statement.
Wal-Mart is trying to improve its Chinese operations in part by
moving away from expanding its brick-and-mortar presence to
focusing on China's online shopping boom. Its store operations in
China have been lackluster. Traffic in its more than 400 Chinese
stores has fallen over the past three years and was down 8.9% in
the most recent quarter though sales rose slightly. Still, the
company plans to open 115 new stores across China by 2017.
Yihaodian's niche has been strong grocery sales, but competition
in groceries has heated up in the past year, as local Chinese
retailers have gone online and many startups have entered the field
to sell everything from imported avocados to dishwashing
detergent.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
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