Walmart invests $50 million in Chinese online grocery and delivery company

To compete with the likes of Amazon, WalMart Stores Inc. is investing $50 million in Chinese online grocery and delivery company New Dada, the retail giant announced Friday. With the move, Walmart further entrenches itself in China’s economy, the second largest in the world.

It’s also an extension of recent decisions the company has made in the Asian market, according to Reuters.

“Wal-Mart shifted its China strategy earlier this year when it sold its own online platform Yihaodian in exchange for a state in local e-commerce giant JD.com Inc.,” Reuters noted. “New Dada is a joint venture part-owned by JD.com.”

With the New Dada investment, Walmart can utilize New Dada’s network “to offer customers two-hour delivery on groceries ordered from Walmart stores through the JD Daojia Dada app,” a release from Walmart read.

From an additional strategic standpoint, Walmart’s investment in New Dada will help the company target shoppers with “faster delivery times in a popular but fiercely competitive online grocery market. New Dada has over 25 million registered customers and delivers in over 300 Chinese cities,” according to Reuters.

In the release, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that globally, the company is working to create seamless shopping experiences that bring together its stores, sites, and apps to make shopping faster and easier.

“Our alliance with JD and cooperation with New Dada will enable seamless shopping to millions of customers across China,” he said.

New Dada CEO Philip Kuai expressed similar sentiments, saying in the release that the deal brings together a global retail leader in Walmart and China’s largest grocery delivery network to create a new unique shopping experience.

“Combining New Dada’s unparalleled delivery network with Walmart stores means consumers will enjoy convenient access to a wide range of high-quality goods delivered to their homes and offices in record time,” he said. “We look forward to deepening our cooperation with Walmart as China’s O2O retail industry continues to evolve and grow.”