Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said he would make the $3.3 billion Jet.com acquisition "all over again."- Jet helped Walmart acquire top talent and e-commerce fulfillment centers, he said.
- The acquisition was also meant to give Walmart access to Jet's affluent, urban customers and high-end brands. But over time, the Walmart brand evolved to attract those customers on its own, McMillon said.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon on Wednesday addressed the company's decision to shut down Jet.com, which Walmart acquired four years ago for $3.3 billion.
When asked on CNBC's Squawk Box whether the acquisition was worth it, McMillon said, "Absolutely. Would do that all over again."
He said the trajectory of Walmart's business changed when it made the Jet acquisition, and that the company gained "a lot of expertise that ended up paying off."
"Not only did we pick up Marc Lore and a great team, we picked up fulfillment centers," he said. Lore cofounded Jet.com and now heads Walmart's e-commerce business.
McMillon also explained the reasoning behind the decision to axe Jet.
He said Walmart acquired Jet to capture young, wealthy, urban customers and higher-end brands. But over time, Walmart.com has evolved to attract these customers and brands on its own.
"When we made the announcement [to acquire Jet]... we talked about Jet playing a role with the affluent customers, younger customers, urban customers. And what we found is that Walmart is able to do that," he said.
"The other role that I thought Jet was going to play is ... attract some of the brands that did not yet want to be in our stores," he said. "And as time has gone on and our website experience has improved and our apps have gotten better... we find that their brands are really comfortable coming to Walmart."
Furthermore, the Walmart brand offers the company its best return on investment, he said.
"Walmart has basically just become the brand where we have the best return on investment for investing in marketing dollar or capital in the brand," he said. "And so this is about focus."
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