Mark Zuckerberg visited Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas., along with his team furthering to grow its partnership with the retailer.
Zuckerberg posted a picture taken at Walmart on Facebook on Friday.
The photo shows Zuckerberg and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg meeting with Walmart executives in what looks like a board room.
Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were supposed to hundreds of WalMart employees on Saturday at the retailer's monthly meeting.
The Facebook team apparently met with Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke and his lieutenants on Friday, in the first such meeting between the two corporations' senior management teams.
Facebook, which reports its second-quarter earnings on July 26, generates most of its revenue from advertising sales. Many investors and analysts believe the company could tap into a new source of revenue by playing a bigger role in online retail sales, perhaps taking a cut of transactions generated on its social network.
“Wal-Mart is an important partner for Facebook and we look forward to working together to deepen that relationship,” Facebook said in a statement to The Orlando Sentinel. “In addition, we admire the company Wal-Mart has built over the past 50 years and believe we can learn from their experience and management team about building a strong, durable and valuable company for the long term.”
It’s a win situation for Wal-Mart as well as the retailer’s Facebook page has more than 17 million fans and the company also pays to advertise on Facebook. Expanding its reach online is key for Wal-Mart as shoppers increasingly shop on their computers, tablets and smartphones but the retail giant is still behind Amazon in online sales.
"We appreciate and value the ongoing strategic partnership we have with Facebook," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "Their help and support with testing new and innovative products and technologies to reach our customers has been invaluable."
This is not the first time the social network partners with Walmart. In 2011, Walmart launched the My Local Walmart Facebook app that sends alerts to fans about new products, discounts, and other updates.
Other new generation of e-commerce startups, such as Fab.com, Oodle and Copious, are tapping into social networks such as Facebook and Pinterest to sell goods.
Facebook's Sandberg has traveled to Wal-Mart before, but this was the first time that Zuckerberg and his entire management team visited the retail giant.
In addition to Duke, Wal-Mart executives who attended the Friday meeting include Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon, Walmart International CEO Doug McMillon, Sam's Club CEO Rosalind Brewer, and other members of Duke's leadership team.
Wal-Mart's Saturday morning meeting usually includes events such as a chance to honor long-time employees and a visit from a Celebrity guest.
Actors such as Harrison Ford, Emilio Estevez and "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson; singers including Sheryl Crow and Jewel; Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson, TV chef Paula Deen and football player Peyton Manning are some of the Celebrities who have attended past Saturday morning meetings
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton created the Saturday morning meetings as a weekly tradition but these are now held monthly starting at 7:30 a.m.
