BENTONVILLE, AR— Walmart, the HOMEWORLD BUSINESS® Retailer of the Year, has broadened its storage and organization consumer reach through its acquisition of Jet.com last year, and through that, the addition of Hayneedle.com. It allows the retailer to target the needs-based every day bargain shopper; the higher income, urban minded Millennial consumer; as well as those seeking out more upscale organizational presentations in their home.
In store at Walmart, plastic storage totes were positioned on an aisle with hangtags featuring microfiber cloths, and adjacent to a selection of vacuum cleaners, to create a complete home cleaning and organization statement for those seeking out products to tidy up their home. Within storage totes as well as trash cans, the store invites consumers to “remember the lid,” by positioning the lid on separate shelves from the totes themselves, for convenience.
In laundry, the store presented plastic baskets and hampers with large capacities. Easy transport was important, especially for these larger capacities, with the retailer’s assortment featuring easy-portable functionality such as hip hugging features, telescopic handles and wheels.
In the kitchen is where Walmart in store made a decorative statement in its organization offerings. For example, its Easy liner pantry shelf liners offered both basic and patterned looks, while in kitchen-sized trash cans, decorative step on, swing top and touch top options from Sterilite and Hefty in red, copper/shimmer like totes, and black in different deco and matte and shiny finishes helped complete the look for this increasingly important room in the home.
Further meeting today’s consumer preference to maximize small spaces, the the Mainstays and Better Home and Gardens Walmart-only brands targeted consumers looking to maximize closet space and to create space for those who might not have any, such as single and double tier garment racks, garment bags, and easy to bring home soft sided hanging cubes and under the bed organizers. Vacuum bags such as Ziploc’s Space Bag, and Magic Bags added to this effort.
In food storage, Rubbermaid Takealongs was featured in an end cap near an on-the-go beverageware statement to target the needs of today’s busy, commuting consumer. Food storage selections included basic sets and also more specific items such as Rubbermaid’s watertight Brilliance and produce specific Fresh Works.
Walmart also made a big statement with Newell’s Ball jars, complete with the jars themselves as well as food tie-ins, such as boxes of fruit pectin, and jars of pickling salt, as well as food related accessories and recipes.
As Walmart’s in-store merchandising guides consumers looking for storage with a certain use in mind, on Walmart.com, on a quick description next to each item, the store offers the consumer quick reference bullet points about the benefits of the product, and what organizational need they might solve in the home.
The assortment on Walmart.com benefits the consumer from a convenience perspective, particularly with larger items, such as carts and storage cabinets. The retailer works with its vendor partners to have products shipped directly to the consumer’s home, or they can choose two-day shipping or free pick up in store to avoid waiting in line with these bulkier items.
Walmart’s core consumers shop at the brick-and-mortar stores. With its acquisition of Jet.com, the retailer targets its storage assortment to a different consumer than the core Walmart customer, zeroing in on the trend-following, urban Millennial consumer, who might still want the ability to obtain lower prices, but who might be even more attracted to the modern novelty of watching the prices drop as more items are added to their cart, especially if shopping from their mobile devices.
This interaction takes an everyday category such as storage, with its basic organizers and bins, more fun. It also encourages the consumer to buy other items for their storage and organization needs by lowering the price on suggested items, based on what the consumer has placed in their cart.
The addition of Hayneedle, from its Jet acquisition in 2016, allows the company to showcase storage beyond a needs-based scenario, and showcases how storage and organization will blend with a consumer’s home décor. The site caters to the experienced based, Pinterest board interested consumer who wishes to visualize how it may look in their dwelling. It also creates idea boards, for example, for improving a walk-in closet, and presents products the consumer can purchase to create the look in their home. The consumer benefits from magazine-esque lifestyle images showcasing how it can be accomplished.
Hayneedle is also differentiated in that the storage and organization items it offers, whether it be furniture based such as a bookcase or more everyday storage items such as a laundry organizer, have the sense of being a part of the home, rather than something picked up to serve a specific purpose. Even the site’s selection for kids rooms has a sense of elegance to the classic pink and blue colorways.
