Jet.com to Launch Private-Label Brand

Jet.com, the online retailer purchased by Wal-Mart last year for $3 billion, is preparing to launch its first private-label brand, with plans to introduce more than 60 food and household items in the coming months, the New York Post reports. The Jet.com private-label products will launch exclusively on Jet.com for the first year and will later sell on Walmart.com. The line may also eventually be sold in Wal-Mart stores. A big focus of the private-label brand will be breakfast cereals, which have risen in price more quickly than most grocery items, experts said. In addition, Jet.com is touting that its private-label merchandise will be better quality than many of the national name brands.

Total Retail’s Take: This move comes at the right time. Retailers in a variety of verticals are currently shifting their focus to private-label brands — either developing them or putting more resources into already existing ones — in the hopes that the strength of these brands will enable them to win consumers from Amazon.com. Consider Boxed’s Prince & Spring brand, which was launched in 2015 and has become a best-seller for the online retailer. In just two years, the private-label brand now accounts for a double-digit percentage of Boxed's sales, launching just over 65 items (out of a total assortment of 1,500 SKUs). Jeff Gamsey, vice present of private label for Boxed, said that private-label brands, when done well, can actually become "a fundamental, defining piece of the entire retail experience. They can create leverage used to hold brands accountable, fill assortment gaps, and spark innovation that challenges existing industry standards, and deliver higher-quality products and healthier, cleaner ingredient decks without sacrificing flavor." Gamsey said that Boxed recognized this potential from very early on in the building of its business and has since "focused on building an engaging private brand, uncompromisingly focused on quality, value and elegant design."