Wal-Mart Stores Inc has forged another alliance to counter Amazon.com Inc, partnering with Japan’s Rakuten Inc to sell e-books in the US and improve its online grocery business in the Asian nation.
The collaboration would bring Rakuten’s Kobo device and e-book catalog to Walmart’s US stores later this year, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.
The partnership also includes a revamp of Walmart’s online grocery service in Japan that is to roll out in the third quarter.
The alliance with the so-called Amazon of Japan is Walmart’s latest step to team up with technology companies that can help it battle the Seattle e-commerce giant.
Last year, it aligned with Google to let shoppers order by voice over Google Home devices, and it is also working with Uber Technologies Inc to deliver groceries in some cities. The move could also goose sales at Seiyu, Walmart’s struggling Japanese unit.
“We are excited to collaborate with the top online shopping destination in Japan,” Walmart chief executive officer Doug McMillon said in the statement.
Japanese shoppers cannot escape Rakuten. About one in four online purchases take place on its marketplace, Ichiba, and the company has expanded into sports, credit cards and even family planning.
However, the 21-year-old company has little cachet outside its home market, so chief executive officer Hiroshi Mikitani has made investments abroad, with moves including a US$1 billion deal for online coupon service Ebates and a stake in ride-sharing service Lyft.
For Kobo, the partnership could offer another shot at the US market. Founded in Canada, the e-book company initially entered the US through a partnership with Borders Inc. That ended unceremoniously when the book chain went bankrupt in 2011, forcing Kobo to sell through its own Web site and a few hundred independent book stores.
Soon after, Rakuten bought Kobo for US$315 million. The business has 30 million readers globally.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been active in the US market,” Rakuten Kobo chief executive officer Michael Tamblyn said in an interview.
Walmart made for a good partner because it provides scale, operational prowess and access to a large group of book customers, he said.
Walmart is to become the exclusive retailer of the Kobo brand in the US, and will begin offering Kobo’s about 6 million e-book and audio book titles later this year. The retailer is also to sell digital book cards in stores, enabling them to carry a broader selection of titles. The companies are to introduce a co-branded app to access e-book content.
The new online grocery delivery service, dubbed “Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper,” is to be more convenient for shoppers and offer an expanded assortment of items like meal kits and cut vegetables, the companies said.
The business is also to boost capacity by opening a dedicated grocery fulfillment center this year, they said.
Right now, all online orders are fulfilled in Seiyu stores.
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