Wal-Mart, a leading American retailer, ups the ante for its social media marketing efforts. And it’s not just launching a new project or upgrading its campaigns. The company is buying another company to support its more sophisticated social media and mobile e-commerce plans. According to a report by Allison Enright for the Internet Retailer, the company recently announced that it will purchase Kosmix Corp. which is a Silicon Valley-based firm specializing in technology searches and the analysis of online social data such as Twitter posts.
In a statement by the company’s vice chairman and head of global e-commerce, this move by Wal-Mart is a bold statement that the company recognizes the increasing significance of social networking and mobile applications as part of customers’ daily lives and its effect on their decision making processes.
In addition, Wal-mart also announced the formation of @WalmartLabs which is a “technology group tasked with advancing the integration of Wal-mart’s stores and web and mobile channels.”
According to the report, analysts have noted that Wal-Mart is “on the right track in making investments in technologies that increase interactions with consumers, online or inside stores.” Other experts are also saying that this bold move is saying that the retailing giant is committed to “engaging shoppers across sales channels.”
Kosmix Corp. was formed in 2005 by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan who also previously founded a database technology company that was acquired by Amazon.com.
