Walmart Going Social with Kosmix Purchase?

The acquisition of Kosmix will help boost Walmart's plans for social and mobile commerce.

Monday Wal-Mart Stores, Inc announced that it signed an agreement to acquire Mountain View, California-based social media company Kosmix for an undisclosed sum. The news follows a statement made earlier Monday by Walmart's chief executive Mike Duke who said that his top priority for this year was to turn around same-store sales here in the States.

According to Walmart, the Kosmix founders and the Kosmix team will operate as part of the newly formed @WalmartLabs and continue to be based in Silicon Valley. "Walmart plans to expand the @WalmartLabs team and expects this new group will create technologies and businesses around social and mobile commerce that will support Walmart's global multi-channel strategy, which integrates the shopping experience between bricks and mortar stores and e-commerce," Walmart said Monday in a press release.

Kosmix is known for its social media technology platform that filters and organizes content in social networks "to connect people with real-time information that matters to them." The technology platform searches and analyzes connections in real-time data streams to deliver highly personalized insights to users. Currently the platform used in TweatBeat, RightHealth and Kosmix.com.

"We are expanding our capabilities in today's rapidly growing social commerce environment," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Walmart's vice chairman. "Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers' day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping, both online and in retail stores. We are excited to have the Kosmix team join us to accelerate the development of our social and mobile commerce offerings."

Walmart's use of the Kosmix social platform will span across its retail businesses in 15 countries and e-commerce businesses in 9 countries. The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2011.