The U.S. search giant is investing $550 million in cash into China’s second-largest e-commerce player, JD.com, reports CNBC. JD.com is locked in a heated battle for customers with China’s largest e-retailer, Alibaba. The company has recently teamed up with Walmart to sell groceries. Its new deal with Google will see JD.com gain a partner that can better help it to develop its retail infrastructure as well as make a selection of its products available to Western shoppers via Google Shopping.
But what is Google getting out of all of this? The company’s $550 million investment will see Google given 27 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares. But the deal will also allow Google to draw people away from Amazon when doing product searches online, boosting their advertising dollars. Google is also thought to benefit from JD.com’s initiatives into voice-powered shopping.
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