Walmart is buying 49 percent of Yihaodian's stake, an e-commerce website based in China. This is part of Walmart's fundamental plan to distribute its products to Chinese consumers through its online service.
Walmart, the premier retail company in the U.S., is lobbying its expansion in China upon buying 49 percent of the remaining shares of Yihaodian, a Chinese eCommerce site, from financial services Ping An of China, noted the Press Reader.
Walmart already owned 51.3 percent stake in Yihaodian since 2012. After a year, the Chinese retail company became the top five online retail stores with 57 million registered users and $1.9 billion yearly gross sales. At this time, Yihaodian has 8 million products with 100 million registered consumers.
In a news from Walmart, President and CEO for global ecommerce Neil Ashe, said, "Our investment in Yihaodian is part of our long-term commitment to grow in China, and we look forward to continuing to play a positive role in the development of the e-commerce industry."
Walmart was impressed by how Yihaodian has excelled topping ecommerce in China. They were enthused by Yihaodian's skill and performance.
Prior to this, there will be some organizational adjustments with the venture as the chairman and co-founder of Yihaodian, Gang Yu and Junling Liu left the company this month. All the same, the two will still be a part of Yihaodian as Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Executive Advisor.
Wang Lu, who is a former SVP and head of CNET Networks in China, will be in charge on Walmart Global eCommerce managing CBS Interactive in China including IT, Auto, Women & Fashion, and Lifestyle.
Investing on Yihaodian is one of Walmart's plans to influence the Chinese market. Walmart can now reach Chinese customers ordering products through mobile and online.
Chen Yuefeng, the editor-in-chief of the China Chain Store magazine said, "It's the trend for brick and mortar retailers to expand into eCommerce, but nobody knows what the future holds,"
Yihaodian will still operate under its name focusing on Chinese online costumers.
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