Walmart, which owns UK supermarket chain Asda, has purchased a US social networking firm in a major bid to build its online and mobile shopping operations.
The company said it was acquiring Kosmix, a US-based company that has developed a platform to aggregate and organise data from social networking sites. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
The move comes as Tesco has revealed a 15 per cent boost in online sales, sparked by improved delivery times and smartphone applications
The Kosmix platform aims to connect people to products and realtime data “that matters to them”. It was developed by the founders of Junglee, which was acquired by Amazon in 1998, and has been credited with being a major force behind the company’s success.
According to co-founder Anand Rajaraman, “the platform captures the connections between people, places, topics, products and events as expressed through social media – be it a feed, a tweet or a post”.
Following the acquisition, the retail chain will incorporate Kosmix into its new WalmartLabs division, which is focused on online and mobile innovation. Walmart has online businesses in nine of its 15 countries of operation, including the UK.
Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman at Walmart, said: “We are expanding our capabilities in today’s rapidly growing social commerce environment. Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers’ day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping, both online and in retail stores.”
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