Walmart has joined forces with Japanese retailer Rakuten to open its first e-commerce store in Japan. The two previously launched book and e-reader online sales in the US and added an e-grocery operation in October. The Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store is aimed at giving the US retail giant space in Japan’s estimated $148bn per year e-commerce market. The store will sell 1,200 US-branded products, including clothing, outdoor products and children’s toys, which will be flown to Japan from the US. In a statement, Walmart’s chief financial officer, Brian Nicol, said that while it was “too early for us to discuss specific plans”, he expected the partnership would help expand Walmart.com into
Walmart has joined forces with Japanese retailer Rakuten to open its first e-commerce store in Japan. The two previously launched book and e-reader online sales in the US and added an e-grocery operation in October. The Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store is aimed at giving the US retail giant space in Japan’s estimated $148bn per year e-commerce market. The store will sell 1,200 US-branded products, including clothing, outdoor products and children’s toys, which will be flown to Japan from the US. Neither firm has said how long the delivery process would take.