Walmart Expands Its E-Commerce Ambitions With a New Investment Arm -<br />By MICHAEL J. de la MERCEDMARCH 20, 2017<br />SAN FRANCISCO — The purchase of Jet, an upstart e-commerce venture, for $3.3 billion last summer was<br />meant to give Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, a way to transform its online retail strategy.<br />The new venture takes its name from an early Walmart store, built in an old bottling plant,<br />that the company founder Sam Walton used to try out new retail strategies.<br />8, an internal venture meant to hatch new online retail businesses.<br />Mr. Beal and Ms. Finnegan declined to comment on how much money Walmart would commit to the new venture, saying that Store No.<br />Now Walmart is expanding its e-commerce ambitions, and it has tapped a Jet executive to help it build new start-ups within the company.<br />“Our goal is to have whatever we work on integrated into the mother ship.”<br />8 is somewhat like corporate venture arms at other companies and will be charged with identifying emerging technologies that could prove useful.<br />Along with incubating new ventures, Ms. Finnegan said, Store No.
