After Falling Behind, Walmart Takes Two Steps Forward

Last month, I wrote that Walmart’s too-little, too-late acquisition strategy of Jet.com and co-founder Marc Lore was too focused on big headlines and not on truly changing the business. I argued that any major retailer looking to offset the threats of ecommerce and changing consumer behaviors should embrace a consistent strategy of acquiring many smaller strategic companies, not just doing one blockbuster billion-dollar purchase.

Since then, the stalwart retailer, in an eager attempt to turn things around, made a number of moves more characteristic of a younger, nimbler entity. In short order, the company has spent $200 million making acquisitions including recently acquiring Modcloth, Shoebuy, and Moosejaw. And at this week’s Shoptalk conference, Walmart made more news when Marc Lore, now Walmart’s head of e-commerce, announced a technology-startup incubator in Silicon Valley called Store №8, which will focus on virtual reality and automated delivery technologies. Also this week, in an interview during Recode’s Code Commerce event, Lore acknowledged that the company is behind and stated, “the company will make more acquisitions going forward.”

Kudos to the executives of Walmart for employing a thoughtful M&A strategy to help their business and its reputation for a new generation of shoppers. Other retailers, currently facing threats to their core businesses, should take a page out of Walmart’s playbook. Companies like Target, Michaels, Sears, Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Kohl’s should look at who in their space could become partners and acquisition targets, so that they can embrace the future rather than risk being lost to the past.