Just a year after it launched, Amazon challenger and fellow e-commerce site Jet.com could soon become the property of one of the largest bricks-and-mortar retailers in the world: Walmart. 

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Walmart is in talks to buy Jet.com, a move that would boost the big box retailer’s online presence.

It was unclear just how much Walmart might pay for the online discount retailer, but the company is reportedly valued at up to $3 billion in private markets.

Neither Walmart or Jet.com provided comment on the potential sale.

If a deal comes to fruition, Walmart would gain Jet.com’s sophisticated pricing software, warehouses, and customer data, the WSJ reports.

By acquiring customer data, Walmart would be putting the $2 billion it pledged to boost e-commerce sales directly to work.

For one, the WSJ reports that the purchase, and list of customers, could also thrust Walmart into a higher income customer bracket.

The deal would also give Walmart a boost in battling it out with online rival Amazon, a fight that has led the big box retailer to close stores, create a fast-shipping option, and other customer-focused initiatives.

When Jet.com launched last summer it was seen as a formidable rival for Amazon, basing its model on undercutting the e-commerce giant’s prices and relying on suppliers rather than warehouses.

Jet.com started out by charging customers a $50 annual membership fee in order to offer upfront discounts. The company dropped that model in October, instead choosing to stick with smaller discounts on large orders.

Wal-Mart in Talks to Buy Web Retailer Jet.com [The Wall Street Journal]

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