Make no mistake, many of Walmart’s digital plays over the last three years have been quite dubious. There are a number of black marks on the resume, namely Jet.com (now shuttered), Jetblack, Spatial&, and countless digitally-native pure play acquisitions, like ModCloth, Bonobos, Moosejaw, Hayneedle, and others that, if Walmart is honest with itself, have not blown the doors off anything and could be considered downright mistakes.
Now some will no doubt say that Walmart has made great strides in digital grocery delivery and order pickup, but one should not overestimate its efforts there either. Every grocer or mass merchant has taken similar approaches. Walmart just receives more notoriety on these fronts because of who it is.
No, from a pure digital commerce perspective, outside of grocery, Walmart’s track record over the past few years has been suspect at best.
Last week, however, something happened that could flip the narrative on its head. Walmart announced a new partnership with thredUP, the upstart online thrift store.
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According to a Walmart Press Release, under the new deal, Walmart “customers can shop www.walmart.com/thredup to find nearly 750,000 pre-owned items across women’s and children’s clothing, accessories, footwear and handbags.” In addition, Walmart also says that “customers will have the added benefit of Walmart’s free shipping threshold on orders of $35 or more and free returns to Walmart stores or thredUP – exclusive perks that have not been available to thredUP customers before.” And, brands for sale will also reportedly include high end wares like: “Coach, Nike, Calvin Klein and Michael Kors.”
Two words: Game Changer.
The move is pure brilliance and highlights just how much Walmart has likely learned from its past transgressions. The tables may finally now be turning in the right direction. The partnership shows a decided change in approach and should be applauded.
Source: Forbes