Jet Revamps Website, Launches Grocery Service
Jet.com, the e-commerce site Walmart acquired in 2016 for $3 billion, is relaunching itself with an upgraded look and assortment, as well as a stronger focus on serving the needs of shoppers in urban metros. The site’s updated product catalog now features an assortment that’s more relevant to city shoppers’ interests across categories like grocery, home, fashion, beauty and electronics, the company says. It will also introduce three-hour grocery delivery as a challenge to Amazon.com's Prime Now. Specifically, Jet.com will now be localized to the city where shoppers live, including the use of localized imagery and messages on the homepage and elsewhere, as well as Jet’s decisions about what products are featured in its assortment for that region.
Total Retail's Take: Jet is being positioned to better serve urban consumers, a demographic its parent company, Walmart, has traditionally struggled capturing. Furthermore, with an eye toward its competitor, Amazon, which has built a strong customer base in urban markets, Jet will begin to offer three-hour grocery delivery, trying to cash in on this growing online category while at the same time taking marketshare away from Amazon. Walmart is betting that bridging the gap between its rural and suburban in-store customers with urban-based Jet shoppers will lead to a healthier overall company.
