Racked is reporting that storied luxury retailer, Lord & Taylor, is now selling their goods via the website of storied crap-peddler, Walmart, because this is the year 2018, and nothing is allowed to make sense anymore.
“On May 16, Walmart said that its Lord & Taylor flagship would start rolling out to customers ‘in the coming weeks.’” The story also notes the goods sold via the flagship would have a “price point that hits higher than most of Walmart’s clothing.”
(A potential understatement; the article compares dresses from each, with a literal 1,000 percent price difference.)
While these two entities once seemed diametrically opposed — one is known for selling the least expensive things available and the other is a long-standing purveyor of high-end goods — according to the story, the partnership “now syncs up with both of their objectives… Lord & Taylor is trying to stay afloat by reaching more shoppers online; meanwhile, Walmart is trying to make itself a premium fashion destination,” something Amazon has yet to do.
And so the e-comm arms race continues. As the story says, 2017 “came to a close with a consolidation of power, as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers forged partnerships with shopping’s most aggressive force, Amazon, and the country’s biggest store chain, Walmart.” And those partnerships don’t seem to be a dying trend: Nike and Sears are selling on Amazon now, and Google and Walmart have teamed up to take on Alexa.
“Less than a decade ago, smaller retailers and city politicians were blaming Walmart for killing off local businesses and jobs. Now, hooking up with the enemy seems preferable to getting demolished by the more pressing threat in e-commerce: Amazon.”
You can read more about it at Racked.
