Walmart investing to further its presence on mobile devices

Quick – did you know that retail behemoth Walmart has its own digital technology division? They do, and it’s named @WalmartLabs (see what they did there?). @WalmartLabs hasn’t been idle either, crafting mobile products and acquiring outside talent.

The most recent acquisition is Small Society, a well-regarded app development agency that has created apps for Starbucks, Zipcar, and Amazon among others. In an announcement on the @WalmartLabs Blog, Walmart explained that they loved the talent of the Small Society team, especially what was described as their “laser focus” on product quality.

Of course mobile talent gets acquired all the time, but this is Walmart, a big-box retail store that has no traditional association with mobile development. This goes to show how important mobile is becoming to all forms of commerce.  It will be interesting to see what sort of mobile experiences retail stores cook up in the not-so-distant future.

source: @WalmartLabs via Tech Crunch