Walmart is making its online shopping platform computing code open to everyone, in the hopes that more companies will develop their own e-commerce platforms instead of forcing companies to essentially rely on Amazon, which has become a serious threat to the massive retail store.
Walmart has been performing dreadfully in the market since the company announced that growth for the company would be slow over the next few years. Walmart CFO Charles Holley blamed this on rising wages and the increased cost of employee training. Shares for Walmart fell by 10% this week.
Meanwhile, Amazon is performing exceptionally well, as its shares have increased by more than 75% this year. Amazon now has a larger market value than Walmart, as the online retailer has a market value of $254.8 billion compared to Walmart’s value of $213.9 billion.
By making its computer code open source, Walmart says that competition will increase between online vendors. Using Walmart’s tools, more companies will be more likely to develop cloud platforms for online shopping.
Basically, Walmart wants to slow down Amazon by giving it more potential competitors.
Chief Technology Officer of Walmart Jeremy King said, “We’re enabling any organization to achieve the same cloud portability and developer benefits that Walmart has enjoyed.”
Additionally, by making the code open source, online retailers will be more likely to compete against other retailers based on innovation, customer service and price. The move should also improve Walmart’s reputation in the technology industry.
Previously, online vendors were often dependent upon others for such technology, often relying on Amazon to do the dirty work for them. This move will reduce that effect, allowing some merchants to break free from Amazon.
However, there are some doubts that this plan will work. Many merchants enjoy working with Amazon. Even if they have to pay the company a fee, having their products on Amazon helps to expose their brands to the public. Amazon is a very big name, and it is extremely unlikely to disappear any time soon. Even if Amazon faces more competition, its name alone should keep it ahead of the pack.
Still, Walmart had to do something to try and put a stop to the rampant success of the massive online retailer.
Walmart plans to release its code to the public by the end of this year.
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