In recent years, Walmart has been on a bit of an acquisition spree. The company has picked up a number of different businesses in order to diversify its holdings and expand its reach. One of the most recent companies to be acquired by Walmart is Advance Auto Parts.
Advance Auto Parts is one of the largest auto parts retailers in the United States. The company has over 5,000 stores across the country and employs more than 74,000 people. Walmart’s purchase of Advance Auto Parts is part of the company’s plan to expand its auto parts and services offerings.
Walmart plans to use Advance Auto Parts’ store locations and distribution network to help grow its own auto parts and services business. The company is also interested in Advance Auto Parts’ professional customer base. Walmart believes that it can leverage Advance Auto Parts’ relationships with professional customers to grow its own business.
The purchase of Advance Auto Parts is just the latest in a string of acquisitions made by Walmart in recent years. In 2016, the company acquired Jet.com for $3.3 billion.
That same year, Walmart also picked up ModCloth, Moosejaw, and Bonobos. In 2017, the company acquired ShoeBuy and Parcel. And earlier this year, Walmart announced plans to acquire a majority stake in Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce companies.
Walmart’s acquisition spree seems to be part of a larger strategy to compete with Amazon. By acquiring a number of different companies, Walmart is able to expand its reach and offer more products and services to its customers. And as Amazon continues to grow, Walmart will need to continue to find new ways to compete.
