Walmart Pulls The Plug On Jet.com 'City Grocery Experience'

Walmart Inc WMT put an end to its "city grocery experience" delivery initiative in New York City, which delivered groceries to customers in as little as three hours.

Bloomberg first reported Friday that Walmart could axe up to 300 jobs after shutting down its NYC delivery initiative. The layoffs would impact workers at a 200,000-square-foot fulfillment center in the Bronx along with drivers.

Walmart's initiative went live in September 2018 with a local vibe with available brands including Pat LaFrieda meats, Just Bagels and Big Gay Ice Cream.

Why The Jet.com 'City Grocery Experience' Was Important To Walmart

The initiative was born out of Walmart's 2016 acquisition of Jet for $3.3 billion.

Walmart's business was plagued with operational challenges. Walmart had to increase prices and delivery fees while trying to fix inventory problems which resulted in out-of-stock items.

Walmart's ambitions was to position its Jet.com business as a tool to use e-commerce to target urban customers in areas where it doesn't have a large physical presence, according to Supermarket News.

Walmart said in a statement it learned a lot from testing its delivery business in New York City. The company will leverage its lessons to better focus on grocery pickup and delivery options in urban markets which represent an "incredible opportunity."

"And we'll continue to test bold concepts that can offer convenience to customers," the statement said.

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