Target Takes a Step to Compete With Amazon

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) desperately want to catch up with Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) ability to offer two-day delivery on millions of items available to members of its $99-a-year Prime program. Wal-Mart invested $3.3 billion buying Jet.com and placed its founder Marc Lore in charge of its digital operations. That was followed by Lore dropping the retailer's $50-a-year ShippingPass program and replacing it with free shipping on orders over $35.

Target (NYSE: TGT) has competed with shipping pricing deals, at least during the holiday season, but it has not made similar major infrastructure investments. That may be changing as the retailer announced yesterday it has agreed to purchase Grand Junction, which it described as a "transportation technology company." The acquisition will "improve and expand Target’s delivery capabilities ... [and] accelerate Target’s investments and ongoing efforts to transform its supply chain," the company said in a press release. 

Target is working to improve its delivery. Image source: Getty Images.

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Source: Fool.com