Walmart said yesterday that it is buying ShoeBuy, an online footwear retailer that competes with Amazon-owned Zappos, for $70 million.
Recode writes that the move is "aimed at helping its subsidiary Jet.com offer shoppers a larger selection of shoes and sneakers ... The ShoeBuy purchase follows the same acquisition strategy Jet employed when it paid a reported $90 million to buy the online home furnishings retailer Hayneedle to help boost its assortment in that area."
According to the Recode story, "Jet co-founder Marc Lore said ShoeBuy’s online catalogue of more than one million items from 800 footwear and clothing brands will speed up Jet.com’s penetration of those categories by several years. In 2015, clothing and accessories became the largest online retail category for the first time, and Walmart and Jet rival Amazon is leading the way."
Recode writes that the move is "aimed at helping its subsidiary Jet.com offer shoppers a larger selection of shoes and sneakers ... The ShoeBuy purchase follows the same acquisition strategy Jet employed when it paid a reported $90 million to buy the online home furnishings retailer Hayneedle to help boost its assortment in that area."
According to the Recode story, "Jet co-founder Marc Lore said ShoeBuy’s online catalogue of more than one million items from 800 footwear and clothing brands will speed up Jet.com’s penetration of those categories by several years. In 2015, clothing and accessories became the largest online retail category for the first time, and Walmart and Jet rival Amazon is leading the way."
- KC's View:
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This is a really interesting story, and not just because it means that Walmart and Jet are going to be more effective selling shoes. I think it also may mean that Walmart is going to get a lot more aggressive about acquisitions on a lot of fronts, which could make it more effective competing with Amazon and everybody else.
