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Walmart.com continues its ambition as an affordable fashion retailer by embracing the e-commerce trend of offering customizable subscription boxes.
But instead of mingling with the busy arena of women's underwear, the discount giant offers high-end children's clothing, such as C & C California dresses, BGBG pants and Puma hoodies. , as part of a partnership with Kidbox announced earlier this week.
"We have been working hard to make Walmart.com a fashion destination," said Denise Incandela, head of Walmart's US e-commerce fashion group. Fortune.
Consumers can receive four to five items of children's clothing priced at $ 48 a box, up to six times a year. A stylist, at no cost, chooses his clothes based on the results of the quiz on the child's personality, as well as their favorite color, their aesthetic preferences, the time of year, the place and the size (from 0 to 14 for girls and from 0 to 16 for boys). ). Kidbox has a list of 120 designers in this partnership, some of which already overlap with the brands Walmart already has, but many of which are new to the retailer.
To embody the renaissance of fashion at Walmart.com, "we started with women," said Incandela, who joined the company in the fall of 2017, bringing high-end references in the sector fashion, such as Ralph Lauren Global Business President and its consumer knowledge management. as senior vice president of Saks Fifth Avenue for marketing and president of Saks Direct, which launched Saks.com.
Incandela has begun to enter the influencer market, introducing hundreds of new brands to online shoppers through partnerships with companies such as Lord & Taylor or new online-only apparel, such as than the recent launch of Sofia Vergara.
"We are now looking at children," she said.
And although Walmart.com's fashion redesign is similar to that undertaken by the company in its stores to attract more fashion-focused and middle-clbad buyers, said Inclandela, the goal online is to significantly expand our product line beyond what we offer in stores. , "Who is better known for having valuables.
"Because we do not have real estate constraints online, we can go well beyond the value product in the good, the best, the best," she said. "And our customers told us they were open to these good and better prices."
Win the border of children's fashion
Why children?
"Children make sense," said Field Marshal Cohen, the NDP's leading advisor on industry, in an e-mail to Fortune. "They grow up or always wear their clothes much faster than adults."
Kickbox started in 2015 and its first season of clothing was back to school in 2016. By April 2018, it had received $ 28 million in venture capital funding.
"Even on smartphones and Xbox days, kids love to get things in the mail," says Miki Berardelli, CEO of Kidbox. Fortune. "And millennial consumers" – parents – "are really consumers on demand".
The children's clothing market, like other clothing, is extremely competitive, especially since the Gymboree bankruptcy in January and the closure of 900 stores. This leaves a gap in the market for superstores, e-commerce giants and niche markets.
"While Amazon wants to become the leading apparel retailer, Walmart is responding by continuing its effort to acquire the child-focused consumer segment," said Tyler Higgins, AArete's chief of consulting firm, in the retail sector. by retail. Fortune.
"With Walmart's competitive low price position, they are now able to add brands that kids and parents know, as well as style advice, to gain a bigger market share," he says. Higgins. "Momentum is changing rapidly as parents continue to trust the clothing of retailers such as Target and Walmart and no longer have to go on special trips to youth-only retailers just for clothing."
Kidbox's regular subscription costs $ 98, or $ 50 more than at Walmart.com, but it includes more items – seven to eight, instead of four to five at the retailer, and allows customers to try articles before paying them.
Berardelli said that Incandela "knew his customers" and that the $ 48 Kidbox price for Walmart.com was the ideal threshold for testing the concept.
However, Mr. Incandela said that Walmart.com's Kidbox clothing could eventually reach a $ 98 USD price range on Jet.com owned by Walmart.
Enter the box
According to a survey conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2018, the subscription box industry has grown more than 100% over the past year. Revenues climbed from $ 2.6 billion in 2016 to $ 57 billion in 2011.
Although Walmart launched a $ 5 quarterly Beauty Box in 2014 that provides makeup and product samples, this is Walmart's first foray into the highly saturated subscription box apparel model.
And while there is competition in the subscription services for children, Higgins said the niche remains relatively "untapped".
Rent the Runway, a high-end clothing rental company, announced the launch of Rent the Runway Kids earlier this month, and Foot Locker took a minority stake in Rockets of Awesome, a subscription for kids in February.
There is also Stitch Fix Kids, which charges a style fee of $ 25 per box and sends to consumers between 8 and 12 items between $ 10 and $ 35 each, which can be partially or fully returned or kept for a total of 25% discount. . (As a company, Stitch Fix has also been confronted with recent market meltdowns due to concerns over its ability to compete with Amazon.)
While Kidbox allows consumers to redeem items because of their incorrect size or style, they must either give up the entire box for a refund or keep them – and then choose one of four charities, including donate new clothes. social mission of the company.
"The most diverse clients I have ever seen"
There are similarities between Walmart and Kidbox customers.
"We were delighted at our first meetings that we have very similar client bases from a geographical and socio-economic point of view," Berardelli said.. "I like to say that we are building a brand that makes the heart of the country beat. And while we have strong customer bases on the coast, our strongest base is in Central America. "
Unable to provide details, Berardelli said Kidbox had "the most diverse clients I've ever seen" in terms of race, location and socio-economic status, ranging from $ 50,000 per year. households between 250,000 and over. (Prior to joining Kidbox as CEO, she held senior positions with FAS of Chico, Tory Burch and Ralph Lauren.)
Kidbox claims to have a "consumer community" of 1.5 million people, which includes customers and members of its mailing lists and social networks.
This partnership has the potential to increase the reach of Walmart.com and Kidbox.
"If we go back to Walmart, we have over 100 million unique viewers on our site each month," said Incandela. "One of the reasons we are on the road to improvement is that there is a huge opportunity to capture more of their portfolio."
As this new company says, Incandela said one of Walmart.com's plans was to "go on the offensive with strategic partnerships."
Courtesy of Walmart
Courtesy of Walmart
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