Wal-Mart announced on Friday that it has acquired the underwear brand Bare Necessities, which is the latest in a series of investments by large retailers in the digital fashion arena.
“The acquisition of Bare Necessities is well suited to our broader acquisition strategy, which includes two different types of companies: category leaders… and digital brands that offer unique products,” said Denise Incandela, Walmart’s US e-commerce fashion director. Said in a blog post. .
Just a week ago, the retailer acquired Eloquii, a startup that sells large-size clothing. In the past year and a half, Wal-Mart has also acquired clothing brands such as Bonobos, Modcloth, Moosejaw, Hayeneedle and Shoes.com.
In July of this year, Wal-Mart e-Commerce President and CEO Marc Lore told attendees at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorming Technology Conference that introducing the new brand to the organization was an important part of the company’s three-pronged growth strategy.
“We are thinking about how to build a company that can shape the future of the retail industry, not today, but in the next five or ten years,” he said. In a world, “Everyone sells everything now,” Lor added. “Classification is the next big frontier.”
He said that Wal-Mart is trying to stand out in this increasingly chaotic retail environment by acquiring products that can’t be found anywhere other than Wal-Mart, especially those that resonate with Millennials shoppers.
According to Zion Market Research, the company said that Bare Necessities will bring deep expertise to intimate companies, driven primarily by online sales, which could be worth $59 billion by 2024.
In addition to buying brands, retailers are exploring new fashion partnerships, including Ellen Degeneres’ EV1 clothing line, which debuted in September, and the Lord&Taylor part of Walmart.com, which was launched in 2017.
Noah Wrubel, co-founder of Bare Necessities, will join Wal-Mart as head of intimate relationships and his role as CEO of Bare Necessities.
The Bare Necessities website will continue to operate separately, but Wal-Mart said that over time, certain products may be added to their e-commerce sites Walmart.com and Jet.com.
