Global retailer Walmart has expanded its portfolio of apparel brands by acquiring Bare Necessities, a women’s innerwear label. The acquisition has come just weeks after the US-based retailer acquired the plus-sized apparel retailer Eloquii.
Notably, Walmart has been looking to expand its apparel offerings in a bid to compete against its arch-rival Amazon, whose wide reach has made it the one stop shop for customers, especially in the apparel segment.
Denise Incandela, Head of Fashion, Walmart US eCommerce, elucidated that intimates were an aggressively growing apparel category in the online market. It has complex sizing and highly specialized products. “Bare Necessities will bring deep category expertise, a content offering curated to educate intimate shoppers, along with strong brand relationships and operational capabilities,” Denise added.
As per the terms of the acquisition, Bare Necessities will initially continue to run its site and function as a separate and complementary brand to Walmart’s other e-commerce platforms like Walmart.com and Jet.com.
Furthermore, in line with the acquisition, the CEO and co-founder of Bare Necessities will take charge of the intimate segment for all of Walmart’s online marketplace along with operating his own brand.
Apart from acquiring apparel brands, the US-based retail giant is also targeting to expand its private labels. Recently the company announced its exclusive apparel brand in partnership with popular actress and TV host Ellen DeGeneres.
Additionally, it is a very close competition among Amazon, Walmart and Target Corporation in the US. As per a report by Morgan Stanley, in 2017, Walmart had an 8.6 per cent market share of the US apparel market, while Amazon had 7.9 per cent, followed by Target Corp with 4.8 per cent.
