Walmart Divests Of Shoes.com, Bare Necessities Brands As Part Of Digital Streamlining

Walmart is selling two of its online brands in a continuing goal to concentrate on its website.

Bloomberg reported Thursday (Aug. 27) that the Arkansas-based retail giant is scrapping Shoes.com and Bare Necessities, the intimate apparel brand.

CriticalPoint Capital, a Los Angeles merger and acquisition advisory and investment bank, will acquire the shoe website while the lingerie platform will be purchased by Delta Galil Industries, an Israeli manufacturer and marketer of branded and private label apparel products for men, women and children.

“The number of customers we’re serving in these categories on Walmart.com, along with the corresponding sales volume, is very different than before each acquisition,” Walmart told Bloomberg in an emailed statement.

Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

For now, shoppers won’t likely see much difference. Walmart said it will sell items from Bare Necessities and Shoes.com through its third-party marketplace site.

Last fall, Walmart sold ModCloth, a vintage-inspired women’s clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories eTailer, to Go Global Retail, a Los Angeles investment platform that invests in fashion and retail, for an undisclosed amount.

Also last year, Walmart shuttered its Jet.com eCommerce website and phased out the brand.

The news of the latest sales came on the same day Walmart confirmed it is teaming up with Microsoft to buy TikTok’s U.S. operation in Culver City, California.

“We believe a potential relationship with TikTok U.S. in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses,” said Walmart in a statement. “We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of U.S. TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of U.S. government regulators.”

Last week, Walmart reported its second quarter earnings, which showed a U.S. comparable store sales increase of 9.3 percent over Q2 2019 and a 97 percent spike in eCommerce.

Earlier this month, the mega retailer shared clues about its launch of Walmart+, which is expected to compete with Amazon Prime.