Walmart Inc. has been pouring investment into its e-commerce operation for years in an effort to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. Now it’s trying to boost its appeal with a new online look.
(Bloomberg) — Walmart Inc. has been pouring investment into its e-commerce operation for years in an effort to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. Now it’s trying to boost its appeal with a new online look.
A revamp of Walmart’s website and app, unveiled Monday, seeks to highlight a selection of goods and cut down on clutter. The goal is to entice shoppers with items they weren’t necessarily looking for instead of offering a utilitarian framework for consumers who already know what they want.
With the redesign, Walmart is seeking “to curate an experience when customers walk through our doors, whether they’re physical doors or digital,” Tom Ward, the retailer’s US e-commerce chief, said in an interview.
That means taking a page out of the brick-and-mortar playbook with a greater emphasis on seasonal products and hot new sales trends, Ward said. Walmart is also trying to focus more eyeballs on its online offerings and growing marketplace of third-party sellers by providing “a more engaging way to browse,” as he put it in a statement on the company’s website.
Walmart’s US e-commerce revenue has expanded at an 11% to 12% clip during the last two years. The online business accounted for almost 13% of US revenue last year, up from 12% the year before, according to a recent regulatory filing.
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