Cornershop will deliver the shipment to Canada and the United States

MEXICO – Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery application recently acquired by Walmart, plans to expand to Canada in early 2019 as a test market before traveling to the United States, said a company executive at Reuters.

In September, Walmart announced the purchase of Cornershop, present in Mexico and Chile, for $ 225 million. The closing of the operation, one of Walmart's global investments to compete with Amazon.com, is scheduled for the end of 2018.

In the USA, Walmart is the leading grocery sellerbut faces the challenge of deliver quickly at the home of their customers. The company has promised deliveries to 100 cities by the end of the year.

In the race to achieve its goal, Walmart collaborates with several delivery companies such as Doordash and postmatesafter completing his association with shared travel companies Uber and Lyft.

Cornershop chief executive Daniel Undurraga said in an interview Tuesday that the company plans to launch its service in Toronto in the first quarter of 2019 and that if all goes well, it will continue in Vancouver and Montreal.

If they succeed in Canada, the United States will be the next goal, said Undurraga.

"Canada is a good test market to launch the service in the US It is very similar but smaller," he said.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Judith McKenna, Chief Executive Officer of Walmart International, said in September that she was hoping Cornershop offers a learning experience beyond Mexico and Chile.

Cornershop still needs to partner with a local payment company and recruiting staff in Canada. Currently, the company employs approximately 11,000 people in 11 cities in Mexico and Chile.

In addition to Walmart, the platform also offers deliveries from other self-service chains, such as Costco and the Mexican chains Chedraui and La Comer.