Walmart just wanted to sell expensive outdoor equipment. Then 'All Hell Broke Loose'.

But several brands, including Leki, Deuter and Black Diamond Equipment, a climbing equipment salesman, have asked to be removed from Walmart.com. When the products appeared on Walmart.com, the outdoor stores contacted the brands, with some worried that Walmart would eventually drive down product prices, business executives and retailers said. outdoors. In some cases, Walmart's competitors told the brands that they would stop selling their products if they stayed on the site.

"We launched, and then all hell broke out a bit in the outdoor industry," Moosejaw chief executive Eoin Comerford said in an interview. "I did not expect the reaction to be so vehement."

About a third of high-end exterior brands have left Walmart.com, Comerford said. Walmart has added other brands and plans to offset these losses in about two months, he added.

Walmart's competitors "were very frustrated with our decision" to sell on Walmart.com, said Shawn Hostetter, president of Katadyn North America, which sells water filtration systems and belongs to the Swiss company Katadyn Group. Some outdoor stores said they would reduce sales of the filter company's products, citing concerns that Walmart would cut prices, he added.

"We decided that this moment was not the right one [Walmart.com]Said Hostetter.

Dust control highlights the pressures faced by brands and retailers as they struggle to adapt to the rise of online shopping. Brands are looking to boost online sales while controlling the price and selection available. Traditional retailers compete more aggressively with Amazon, brands that attack. For Walmart, the challenges posed by outdoor stores foreshadow the upcoming balancing efforts, as they try to maintain their low price reputation while attracting more high-end brands that wish to maintain high prices.

Walmart has been courting brands for months, including Katadyn, often offering small businesses the ability to manage how Walmart.com's external sellers post and rate the company's products, some companies said. Mr Hostetter said it was an attractive offer after years of competition on Amazon with outside sellers who were willing to cut prices for branded products.

According to Mr. Comerford, the negative reaction of retailers reflects the pressures on the outdoor equipment industry, but it is short. Consumers are already waiting for products to be widely available, he said. Limiting the way consumers can buy products "just will not work in the long run".

Some brands have agreed to be named in the Walmart press release announcing the new concept, others wanting to be more subtle, he added. In hindsight, for those who did not want to be named, "we might have tried to minimize them a bit more on the site itself," Comerford said.

Walmart executives said access to a wider range of brands on Walmart.com was a key part of Bentonville, Arkansas' strategy to increase margins and online sales. Walmart bought Moosejaw, an outdoor retailer based in Madison Heights, Michigan, for $ 51 million last year, as part of a series of acquisitions of small online sellers of high-end products. He also redesigned his website with a more upscale feel.

After Walmart launched its outdoor shop last week, the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, an organization of 70 small US retailers that share data and advocate for the industry, has recommended that its members suspend all concerned brands. the group president. Group members are wary of declining product prices in another online market after their experience with Amazon, he said.

"I think a lot of these retailers have the feeling of having suffered from Amazon's moving into space," said Larry Pluimer, general manager of Indigitous, a company that represents the brands that sell on Amazon and a former manager of the category of outdoor products. for Amazon. "Having another giant like Wal-Mart is maybe the straw that breaks the camel's back."

Wes Allen, co-owner of Sunlight Sports, an outdoor goods store in Cody, Wyo, said that he had sent emails to brands listed on Walmart.com, including Black Diamond, for him. to say that his store would stop ordering their products. "Linking your premium brand to Walmart is no longer a premium," Allen said.

It's a "dated thought," said Comerford, as customers in all demographic categories shop at Walmart.com.

Black Diamond said in a statement last week that it had sent a cessation letter to Walmart demanding photos of Black Diamond products and that its logo be removed from Walmart.com. "We have neither seen nor endorsed the statement issued by Walmart [Aug. 27] and have never sold to Walmart, "said Black Diamond chairman John Walbrecht in a statement.

"We would never activate a brand without their permission," said a spokeswoman for Walmart.

Write to Sarah Nassauer at [email protected]