Walmart opens its first online store in Japan
The new store is hosted on the Rakuten Ichiba digital “shopping mall” — the country’s largest e-commerce site. Walmart will fulfil orders in the US and ship them directly to customers in Japan, with shipping, duties, and taxes bundled into the product price. It’s also tapping its subsidiary Seiyu GK, a local supermarket chain that also handles its online grocery service, to provide customer support.
The move is clearly Walmart’s latest play to capture more of the Japanese e-commerce market, which is estimated to be worth 16.5 trillion yen ($148 billion) per year. While rival Amazon has found success in the country, Walmart still appears to be floundering. In July, Japan’s Nikkei reported it was scouting buyers for Seiyu as it looked to shift its international business with investments in China and India. Walmart refused to comment on the rumors.
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