America's biggest physical retailer, Walmart Inc. has now expanded its wings in East Asica with its first online store in Japan. For the launch, the retail mammoth collaborated with the help of local e-commerce giant Rakuten.
Over 1,200 items will be available to Japanese customers on the Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store, including fashion and outdoor products. Markedly, Rakuten Ichiba digital shopping mall is the country's biggest e-commerce site.
"We are very excited to be working with Walmart to bring a diverse product lineup of American brands at affordable prices to Rakuten Ichiba users in Japan. Through the opening of the Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store, we hope to make Rakuten Ichiba an even more attractive destination for online shoppers in Japan," said Shunsuke Yazawa, CEO & VP, Marketplace Business, Rakuten.
In Japan, Walmart will fulfill orders in the US and ship them directly to customers in the island country.
With this move, Walmart aims to capture more of the Japanese e-commerce market, which is expected to be worth US $ 148 billion per year.
Elsewhere, the retailer determined to enter India this year when it scooped up local Amazon rival Flipkart for US $ 16 billion, a record deal for the US firm.