Walmart (WMT) Expands Partnership With Inovalon to Drive Growth

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc. WMT is undertaking every effort to enrich consumers’ experiences by providing convenient, easy and fast shopping methods. Progressing along these lines, the supermarket giant will expand and extend its association with a well-known provider of cloud-based platforms in healthcare space, Inovalon (NASDAQ:INOV) INOV.

Per the deal, management will extend its association with Inovalon till 2028 while broadening the use of ScriptMed Cloud to enhance the clinical care management of complex patients of Walmart’s retail pharmacies across the country. Further, the company will introduce more cutting-edge Inovalon ONE Platform functionality. In 2020, the initial partnership between the two parties was formed with the introduction of Inovalon’s ScriptMed Cloud offerings. We note that Walmart utilizes Inovalon’s cloud-based abilities via the Inovalon ONE Platform across its pharmacies nationwide under the data-driven strategy. This helps the retailer enhance the outcomes and economics of its customers.

All said, Walmart is focused on its patient-centric approach to enhance customer’s experiences. In this regard, the company recently took another move when it added Walmart+ Rx for less to its Walmart+ membership program. This will help members get incremental savings on the commonly prescribed medications for allergies, antibiotics, heart health, mental health and diabetes management, among others. Certainly, the latest development between Walmart and Inovalon is a step closer to achieving the objective.

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What Else Should You Know About Walmart?

The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is benefiting from burgeoning demand for essential items amid coronavirus. While the pandemic-led social distancing has led consumers to stay indoors, they are still moving out for essentials, which is working well for retail behemoths like Walmart. Further, higher stay-at-home trends are boosting e-commerce sales. Such trends drove the company in first-quarter fiscal 2022, with the top and the bottom line increasing year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Given the rising demand for online grocery, Walmart is committed to enrich consumers’ experiences by providing easy shopping methods and seamless grocery deliveries. In fact, the company's delivery service has become all the more vital amid coronavirus-led social distancing. Walmart has taken robust strides to strengthen its delivery arm, as evident from its investment in DroneUp; pilot with HomeValet, introduction Carrier Pickup by FedEx (NYSE:FDX), launch of Walmart + membership program; drone delivery pilots in the United States with Flytrex and Zipline; and a pilot with Cruise to test grocery delivery through self-driven all-electric cars. Walmart also unveiled an alliance with Door Dash in third-quarter fiscal 2021 to deliver prescriptions from pharmacies of Sam’s Club along with expanding Scan & Go to all fuel stations at U.S. Sam’s Clubs.

Well, Walmart has been taking several e-commerce initiatives, including buyouts, alliances as well as improved delivery and payment systems. On May 13, 2021, Walmart unveiled plans to acquire Zeekit, which is focused on uniting fashion and technology via its virtual fitting room platform. During third-quarter fiscal 2021, Walmart had unveiled an additional investment in India’s Ninjacart, for technology and supply-chain solutions. Apart from these, the company’s contracts with Goldman Sachs GS, Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) SHOP and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT); buyouts of ShoeBuy, Moosejaw and Bonobos, among others, underscore its intention to build an impressive digital brand portfolio.

Notably, shares of Walmart have increased 15.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 14.9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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