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Walmart Business underscores the retailer's recent B2B expansion.
Walmart Business is built for restocking. (Courtesy photo)
Walmart has a new ecommerce tool for businesses and organizations that buy supplies from the retailer.
The news: Walmart is launching a new ecommerce site and customer experience designed for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as nonprofits. Called Walmart Business, it helps smaller outfits tap Walmart’s ecommerce network, including fulfillment and delivery, to save money and keep supplies stocked.
What’s available on the platform? Walmart Business has an assortment of 10,000 items. These include products for:
What are some of the other features? Walmart said it wants to enable the following:
Subscription power: Just like Walmart+ for consumers, this ecommerce platform has a membership element. Walmart Business+ offers perks such as free shipping, free pickup and delivery, rewards and a 5% discount on certain items. Membership is $98/year.
Key quote from Ashley Hubka, SVP & General Manager of Walmart Business: “[SMBs and nonprofits] are under more pressure than ever due to inflation and supply chain issues, adapting to a hybrid workforce and post-pandemic behavioral shifts. For months, we’ve been working with SMBs and nonprofits to build solutions just for them, with tools tailored to help teams run smoother, have the right items on hand and easily find products to meet their needs.”
What it says about ecommerce:
B2B: This launch comes a week after Walmart debuted retail tech tools on Salesforce’s app marketplace. That means Walmart’s two biggest announcements of 2023 have been focused on providing products and services for other businesses. It’s clear that Walmart sees potential to put its ecommerce tools to work for others, and reap the benefits of big orders that are paid on the company card. Amazon has sold to other businesses for years, so it’s not totally new. But given Walmart’s scale, it’s worth watching because it could become a big business, quickly.
Plus up: The addition of a membership element indicates that Walmart sees its B2B arm as being interconnected with the rest of its business. Executives talk on most Walmart earnings calls about how the consumer version of Walmart+ has run-on benefits that not only help drive ecommerce, but also lead to more in-store shopping. Coupled with a wider assortment of items, high-frequency Walmart+ users are also helping to grow advertising. Business customers are shopping on the same website, so it makes sense that they will be part of the flywheel, as well.
Buy it again: Across many of Walmart’s recent digital releases, there has been a common theme: Restocking is getting easier. Walmart’s direct-to-fridge delivery was in part positioned around reordering staples. Its Text to Shop feature learns preferences, making it easy to buy favorites again. Now, Walmart Business is organizing items in a way that makes them easy to reorder. It makes sense that Walmart would want to encourage repeats. Easier restocking essentially builds in recurring revenue. Walmart is known for its “big basket” weekly trips to the store. Now, its ecommerce tools are equipped to have many of those stock-up staples delivered.
Building for tougher times: Adding new customers from businesses. Encouraging them to commit to Walmart by becoming members. Making it easy to replenish. These are all things that can help Walmart at a time when the general consumer environment is signaling pullback, and the company is seeing less discretionary spending on non-consumable items. It’s clear Walmart executives have reviewed the assets the company has, and identified where they can be tuned for new opportunities that align with the moment we’re in. That’s what successful businesses do during tough times.
On the Move has hiring news from Walmart US, Etsy, commercetools and more.
Judy Werthauser. (Photo via LinkedIn)
This week, retailers are bringing on C-level talent in areas such as people, operations and transformation. Plus, Kohl’s appoints an activist investor’s choice for CEO, Fanatics taps a former Snap executive for livestream shopping and Etsy brings aboard Facebook’s former general counsel.
Tom Kingsbury was appointed CEO of Kohl’s. Kingsbury was named interim CEO in December upon the resignation of now-Levi’s President Michelle Gass. Now, Kingsbury will have the job on a permanent basis. Kingsbury served as CEO of Burlington Stores from 2008-2019. Kingsbury was nominated by activist investor Macellum Advisors, which was pushing for change at Kohl’s. With Kingsbury’s appointment as CEO, Macellum has agreed to a “multi-year standstill.”
Judy Werthauser was appointed chief people officer at Walmart U.S. Werthauser comes to the teen-focused retailer from Five Below, where she served as EVP and chief experience officer. Over her four-year tenure, the chain grew from about 750 stores to more than 1,300 locations. Werthauser also served on the board of BJ's Wholesale Club, and is now resigning from that position. “I am excited to work alongside the world-class Walmart U.S. team as they bring the purpose of building a better world – helping people live better and renewing the planet while building thriving, resilient communities – to life,” Werthauser wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Mike Brewer was named chief operating officer at Crate & Barrel Holdings, overseeing operations at Crate & Barrel, CB2, Crate & Kids and Hudson Grace. Brewer brings 20 years of experience from Nike, where he served in roles including sourcing, manufacturing and supply chain. Crate & Barrel said Brewer’s appointment was part of the home retailer’s “ongoing efforts to evaluate and alter its structure in ways that help support overall growth.”
Keith Melker. (Courtesy photo)
Keith Melker was appointed chief strategy and transformation officer at JCPenney. Melker comes to the department store retailer from Wehner Multifamily, where he served as CEO. He was also a previous chief strategy officer at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Melker will oversee the transformation office, which includes ownership of metrics such as profitable traffic, inventory management, digital growth and strategic partnerships. With this move, Katie Mullen will remain chief strategy officer.
Blaine Trainor is joining ecommerce software provider commercetools as VP of global partnerships and alliances. In the role, Trainor will lead the headless commerce company’s partnerships ecosystem, working with companies including Deloitte, CapGemini, AWS and Google Cloud. Trainor previously served in senior leadership roles at SAP over a 12-year tenure, and also held sales roles at hybris software and Sterling Commerce.
Nick Bell, a former Google and Snap executive, will lead a new livestream shopping division of Fanatics, Footwear News reported. Bell previously led the teams behind Google Search Experience, and served as VP and global head of content and partnerships at Snap Inc. Bell will lead the Fanatics Live division, which will launch a standalone app that is geared toward collectibles.
NIck Bell. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Colin Stretch was appointed chief legal officer at corporate secretary at Etsy, effective Feb. 14. Stretch previously served as general counsel at Facebook from 2013-2019. He then spent two years as leader in residence at Columbia University Law School's Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character & Leadership, and went on to the law firm Latham & Watkins.
"Colin's extensive experience will be critical to Etsy's efforts to ensure we remain a safe and trusted marketplace, broaden our reach across all our brands, and advocate for microbusinesses around the world,” said CEO Josh Silvermann, in a statement.