Walmart has garnered kudos from analysts since its 2016 acquisition of Lore’s Jet.com, which has proven to be great fodder for its e-commerce business. In addition to greatly expanding its online assortment, Walmart has doubled down on its “always low prices” promise, and is closing price gaps against Amazon in several categories, according to research from retail data analytics firm Market Track and e-commerce analytics firm Profitero.
But some observers have warned that the brick-and-mortar stalwart, which has perfected the uber-efficient offline distribution of goods at rock-bottom consumer prices, will have to contend with the inefficiencies and expense — and therefore the lower margins — of online fulfillment.
