Wal-Mart Buys Delivery Company Parcel to Help With Same-Day Deliveries in New York
- Parcel takes groceries, meal kits to customers in metro area
- Biggest U.S. city at center stage in fight for online dollars
An employee carries empty boxes after restocking items at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015. In 2011, several big U.S. retailers moved their opening times to midnight; in 2012, Wal-Mart crossed the Rubicon and opened its stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. But after last year's Thanksgiving weekend retail sales fell 11 percent from the year before while overall holiday sales rose, some retailers have been reconsidering.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergIn a sign of the intensifying battle for New York’s online shoppers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acquired Parcel, a company specializing in same-day deliveries of groceries and meal kits.
The world’s largest retailer plans to use the business to offer free, same-day delivery in New York City -- the most populous city in the U.S. -- as it continues to push into e-commerce to compete with Amazon.com Inc. Wal-Mart announced the purchase on its website, saying it paid less for Parcel than other acquisitions made this year, without giving more details on the terms.