Walmart has built upon its current alliance with JD.com, after investing in the “local on-demand logistics and grocery ecommerce” company New Dada. New Dada is currently financially backed by JD, but with Walmart's new backing of 50 million US dollars, it tightens the relationship between the two retail giants. The new deal comes just months after Walmart moved its old Chinese ecommerce site to JD.com, in exchange for an 11% stake. New Dada is now expected to be used by Walmart and JD in order to supply two-hour delivery services to a vast area of China. Initially that area will include anywhere within a 3-kilometre radius of any of the twenty Chinese Walmart stores taking part in the trial. However, this range will be expanded to include all 426 Walmarts in China, to cover just under 170 of China's cities. The deal should help Walmart consolidate its position in the Chinese market, whilst also strengthening its competition for Alibaba.
