Walmart Goes Omnichannel In Brazil

Walmart’s Brazilian unit is reportedly integrating its physical retail and eCommerce activities and is expanding its online marketplace operations.

According to a news report from Reuters, citing Walmart Brazil, the initiatives will cost about $464 million during the course of the next four years.

Online marketplaces, in which companies offer products from third-party retailers, are growing in popularity throughout the eCommerce market.

Facing a growing number of retail rivals in the Brazilian market, Walmart announced in August that it would invest about $316 million to remodel 120 of its stores in the country over the next two years. Walmart, which is the third-biggest diversified retailer in Brazil, has already launched its remodel program and expects to continue the upgrades through 2019, according to Reuters.

The company has already performed 10 percent of the refurbishments, said Flavio Cotini, CEO of Walmart’s Brazilian unit, to reporters attending the LATAM Retail Show this week. Brazil’s biggest grocer, Grupo Carrefour Brasil SA, is doubling its store count through 2020, while Walmart rival GPA SA is renovating its stores in a bid to welcome consumers who are ready to ramp up spending again after a long Brazilian recession.

During the first quarter of this year, Brazil’s economy grew by 1 percent, ending the country’s nearly two-year recession, which was the longest in the Latin American nation’s history, the BBC said. As of June 2017, about 14 million Brazilians were still unemployed in the wake of the economic downturn. However, companies are getting back to creating jobs, and employment is starting to pick up, prompting retailers like Walmart to try and entice shoppers with fresh remodels.