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09/26/2008 09h03

Wal–Mart invests US$ 15.3 million in virtual store

Valor Econômico - 09/26/2008

Now only Carrefour and Casas Bahia are missing as the only two chains that do not have a Web operation among the seven biggest retailers of Brazil. As anticipated by Valor, Wal-Mart announced that it will launch its Brazilian "dotcom". The site is going to be up on October 1st and it will be the first time that the multinational will have the Wal-Mart name in a virtual store outside the United States. With its debut in the Internet, Wal-Mart joins the Pão de Açúcar group (owner of Extra), Ponto Frio, Magazine Luiza and Lojas Americanas in Brazil, which have already had electronic operations for approximately ten years. Pão de Açúcar was the pioneer in virtual retail, but Americanas was the one which most have advanced in the sector with B2W, controller of the Submarino and Americanas.com websites. As verified by Valor, Casas Bahia has already put up a team work to develop its internet operation and begun tests with the Java programming language, Internet's most used platform. "The launching of the ‘dotcom' is a milestone for Wal-Mart in Brazil", affirmed the president of the multinational in the country, Hector Nuñez, yesterday. An investment of R$ 25 million (US 15.3 million) was made for the development of the Internet branch, which currently employs 100 people. The store will cover the whole national territory, including the North region, where the group does not have stores, and the deliveries will be made by Total Express, an outsourced logistics operator. In the "dotcom" store only non-food items will be sold, like electro-electronics and IT equipment. In this first moment, the Website will not have CDs or books, but the products will begin being offered "very soon", affirmed Carlos Fernandes, vice-president of the special division of Wal-Mart. According to Fernandes, one of the innovations will be the identification of the most sold items among the products chosen by the consumer. A percentage will appear over each selected item, showing the sales performance compared to their similar products. The initiative may displease manufacturers whose products may have a weak demand.