Walmart is rising after announcing its latest jab in the fight against Amazon
Amazon and Walmart have been trading blows in the fight to dominate the next wave of buying things.
The latest salvo is Walmart's announcement that it has acquired Parcel, a last-mile delivery service. Shares of the giant retailer are up about 1.48% to $79.59 on Tuesday after the news.
Parcel will add to Walmart's ability to deliver to high-density cities, which the company considers a "top market" according to a news release. The service allows customers to schedule delivery times for their packages, which solves the problem apartment dwellers face when they don't have a door person to let a delivery person into the building.
The service also helps Walmart tackle the problem of same-day delivery, which is a big problem to solve if the company wants to offer delivery options for perishable items like food. Some Wall Street analysts have speculated that Amazon will eventually use its newly-acquired Whole Foods stores as mini-warehouses for same-day food delivery.
Parcel fits into Walmart's recent string of acquisitions around e-commerce. The company bought Jet.com about a year ago and had been adding e-commerce companies and new online ordering options for its customers since then. Business Insider's Dennis Green called the company Walmart's "greatest weapon" in its war against Amazon.
Parcel is based in New York City and was acquired for less than $10 million, according to a report from Recode.
Walmart is up 15.91% this year.
