Walmart

When Jet.com launched last July we predicted that the company had no illusions it would beat out rival Amazon.com. Instead, our conclusion was that Jet.com was a company launched with the intent of being purchased. Twelve months later, it seems we were on the right path. It was just announce that, after being rumored late last week, Walmart has purchased Jet.com for $3.3 billion. This marks one of the largest acquisitions of an e-commerce company ever (by companion Amazon purchased Jet.com founder’s previous business, Quidsi – think Soap.com, for $545 million). The ubiquitous big box store is purchasing the e-tailer startup to bolster their online shopping efforts, which despite being second, distantly behind Amazon, has seen sluggish growth as of late. The goal is to make the Walmart.com experience more seamless and to accelerate growth. Jet.com will continue to exist (for now) and CEO Marc Lore will continue to head it up.