The food fight is going digital.
Discount behemoth Wal-Mart Canada Corp. has quietly started to sell food online, ranging from Halloween candy to gluten-free organic cereals and prepared Thai dishes. Its initiative sets the stage for an even more intense battle with grocery rivals in an already cutthroat field.
The world’s largest merchant can quickly squeeze competitors when it focuses on any category and Wal-Mart’s new push into online food has the potential to cut further into grocers’ already narrow profit margins.
“It’s going to make it tougher for everybody,” said Thom Blischok, chief retail strategist at consultancy Booz & Co. in San Francisco. “This is the beginning of a very unique transformation.”
Retailers are shifting their selling online in categories ranging from books to electronics and toys.
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