Retail giant Walmart has completed the acquisition process of Jet.com for US$3bn in cash as well as $300 million in Walmart shares.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Jet.com team to the Walmart family and excited to expand the ways we serve our current customers and reach new customers online,” said Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon.

“Jet brings a unique approach and technology that puts customers in control of their experience, helping them find additional ways to save.”

Mark Lore, founder and CEO of Jet.com has now joined Walmart’s leadership team and will serve as executive VP at Walmart as well as president and CEO of Walmart eCommerce in the United States. Lore will lead both Walmart.com as well as Jet.com and will report to McMillon.

The acquisition is widely touted as part of Walmart’s plans to take on Amazon in the US and impose itself on the global e-commerce market.

In a blog posted on the Walmart site, McMillon said: “The deal will build on our e-commerce foundation and accelerate growth.

“We’ve grown Walmart.com to the second largest online retailer by traffic in the US and in just the past six months we’ve expanded from 7m items to more than 15m on the site. We’re adding about a million more each month.

“We’ve built an impressive fulfilment network that uses mega-sized fulfilment centres and our stores to get orders to customers faster. Within a year, we’ve created one of the largest online grocery businesses in the country.”

Amazon has been able to grow in a relative competitive vacuum but now big players are sitting up and noticing. While it has been able to be the big guy on the e-commerce block for so long, major players like Sainsburys and Walmart are looking to respond…