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Walmart Adds New Leaf to Digital Story With Microsoft Deal

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Walmart Inc (WMT - Free Report) is set to bolster its presence the retail world with the latest partnership with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) . Yesterday, these behemoths in their respective industries unveiled intentions to establish a five-year strategic partnership. The deal is likely to strengthen Walmart’s digital capabilities through Microsoft’s strength in providing advanced cloud solutions. Undoubtedly, this development will be a radical asset for Walmart, in its battle against e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) .   

Cloud Technology to Boost Walmart

Walmart, renowned for its capabilities to provide easy and seamless shopping experiences, has been consistently empowering digital offerings. The latest partnership with Microsoft provides the opportunity to access a wide range of cloud solutions, including Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure. As a result, the company will be able to move hundreds of applications to cloud-based architectures. Well, the company plans to shift substantial portions of walmart.com and samsclub.com to Azure. Apart from bolstering cloud computing abilities, the partnership will also aid in accessing new toolsets for faster innovation as well as manage costs and workloads effectively.

The company has already been using Microsoft’s support across some of its critical applications. The latest move strengthens the company’s artificial intelligence and data platform to provide better services to customers. Most importantly, such digital support systems will help reduce time and cost of operations.



Digital Inclination: A Vital Growth Strategy

By partnering with Microsoft, Walmart is likely to capture greater opportunities in e-commerce and bolster internal operations with greater tech support. Well, the company has always looked forward to introduce smart and digitally compatible shopping tools across stores and online. This is evident from its efforts to strengthen digital portfolio with strategic partnerships with companies like Flipkart, ShoeBuy, Moosejaw, Bonobos, ModCloth and Jet.com. Further, the company’s Walmart2World money transfer service along with Walmart Pay and Mobile Express Returns program highlights its focus on accelerating online business. Additionally, the big-box retailer has been utilizing digital capabilities to offer a widespread network of online deliveries and pickup services.

Final Thoughts

Walmart, with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has always been committed to seek new ways to constantly expand and evolve in the retail world. Starting from prudent acquisitions and partnerships to combining shopping with advanced technology, the supermarket giant has played several cards to maintain its position in the industry. That said, we expect Walmart, whose shares have gained 15% in the past year compared with the industry’s 16.4% rise, to maintain its strong foothold in the retail space.

Talking of the retail space, Investors can count on Urban Outfitters, Inc (URBN - Free Report) , that flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has a long-term earnings per share growth rate of 12%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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