Walmart Grows E-Commerce Wing with Pending Bonobos Purchase

Walmart may be the number one retailer in the world overall, but it lags far behind Amazon in online sales — and as anyone who’s paying any attention knows, the future is in e-commerce. Amazon’s exponential rise seems unstoppable; the company captured more than half of all online sales growth in 2016. It is finding ways to undercut its brick-and-mortar rival’s famous low prices, leading to a bitter price war that feels almost apocalyptic for their major suppliers. But there is major room for growth for Walmart: figures released last year indicated that only 2.8% of Walmart’s revenue come from online sales. Business savvy New York City iOS app developers know that if the company can expand their take in the e-commerce market they could really be a danger to their most formidable competitor.

Marc Lore, the co-founder and CEO of Jet.com and Walmart’s new head of e-commerce, may be the retailer’s ticket to increased online sales. Since Walmart acquired Jet.com and brought aboard Lore seven months ago, the company has purchased several online retailers, such as ModCloth and ShoeBuy. According to sources close to the deal, the latest acquisition for Walmart under Lore will be men’s apparel company Bonobos. App developers are undoubtedly familiar with the company, which has established itself as a trusted name in men’s clothing over the past ten years. It pulls in $100 to $150 million dollars in revenue a year, making it an incredibly attractive buy for Walmart.

Bonobos’ customer base has little overlap with Walmart’s, but that seems to be a central part of Lore’s strategy. By bringing in hip, established, and exclusive brands like Bonobos, Lore is hoping to attract new customers to Walmart’s burgeoning online empire. He is also keeping the CEOs of these acquisitions, injecting Walmart with new blood with much-needed e-commerce experience. Walmart is making bold moves in its online shopping strategy, but as iPhone app developers already know, the retailer needs to start watching the throne on the brick-and-mortar side of things too. Amazon is busy reinventing physical stores for a more convenient and frictionless shopping experience, and while its early experiments have gotten off to a rocky start, it is entirely possible that they could start cutting into Walmart’s lead in the not-too-distant future.