How Walmart accelerates transformation without Asda and thanks to TikTok
If the restriction announcement made by President Trump is confirmed, the American computer and Cloud giant Oracle (turnover 2019 US$34.5 billion) and partner Walmart, leader in superstores and club warehouses (turnover 2020 US$524 billion) will take over the management of TikTok, the new star of social networks among young Americans. With 100 million users, Oracle will hold 12.5% of TikTok Global, a new entity based in the U.S.A. Walmart would hold 7.5%, for a total amount of €10.1 billion. Walmart C.E.O. Doug McMillon will be a Director of TikTok Global.
A few weeks before the Presidential elections, Trump continues to push to bring this brand, data and algorithms under American control. The business belongs to the Chinese ByteDance with a turnover US$20 billion in 2019. Barring a new twist, this case highlights the paradigm shift underway at Walmart. The world leader in retail is asserting itself as a connected rival to Amazon, adding new digital pieces (e-commerce site, marketplace, social media) to its traditional bricks-and-mortar mode with 11,500 stores.