<p> There’s been speculation that since Wal-Mart’s latest stagnant quarter, the retailer would further invest into its e-commerce business to build sales back up. That speculation may prove to be true after all. Wal-Mart has struck a deal to lease about <B>107,000 square feet in Sunnyvale</b>, with plans to hire <B>hundreds of tech workers</b> in the area to add to its growing workforce of about 550 employees. What does this mean for its growing digital business?<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Sunnyvale has already proven to be a hotspot for big tech businesses like Google, LinkedIn, and Apple. With these latest investments, <B>Wal-Mart might just be the next big player in the Silicon Valley</b>. Bao Nguyen, a spokesman with Wal-Mart Global eCommerce, says that the company’s digital operations in Sunnyvale and San Bruno are helping build to build its e-commerce platform, its video-on-demand service, and its mobile shopping services.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “There is such a large concentration of engineers and technologies in Santa Clara County,” added Nguyen. “They can be found all over the Bay Area, but there is a huge density of that talent pool in the South Bay. <B>Sunnyvale and the South Bay are very important to us for recruitment.</b>”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> It’s starting to become apparent that Wal-Mart sees huge value in e-commerce, especially since its <B>online sales growth beat Amazon’s</b>, while sales worldwide rose approximately 27%. For more on this story, check out the link below.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.andnowuknow.com/headlines/wal-mart-overtakes-amazon-web-sales-growth-2013/11720/christofer-oberst" target="_new"> Click here to read: Wal-Mart Overtakes Amazon in Web Sales Growth in 2013 </a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">President and CEO Doug McMillon also sees areas of improvement in this digital sector, noting, “We have the opportunity to create transformative growth through stronger e –commerce capabilities.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wal-Mart is expected to move into the new site sometime this year as tenant improvements are underway to prepare the building.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Is this retailer planning for something bigger? As Wal-Mart gains a larger foothold in the Silicon Valley, it’ll be interesting to see what improvements will be made in its digital business. Still, I have to wonder…will other retailers start making similar investments as well?<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Stay tuned as we continue following Wal-Mart’s expansion in the Silicon Valley.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://stock.walmart.com" target="_new"> Wal-Mart </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
