Walmart Launches Concierge Shopping

Walmart launched Jetblack, a concierge-style shopping service, on May 31, in a bid to give its customers access to personal shoppers through text messages. The service is currently available to members in Manhattan and Brooklyn that are part of an eight-month trial program. In this flash report, we outline details of the service which Walmart describes as combining “the convenience of e-commerce with the customized attention of a personal assistant.”

How it Works

Shoppers need an invitation to become Jetblack members, and once they are in the exclusive club, they simply send a text message detailing their requirements. Below is an example from a video that Walmart uploaded on YouTube: a shopper texts Jetblack asking for ideas for race car beds and Jetblack experts text back with options, asking the shopper to reply with the option number to place the order.

Source: Youtube/Walmart

Walmart promises that “Jetblack can deliver time-strapped urban parents everything from birthday gifts to household essentials.” To fulfill this promise, products are sourced from Walmart and Jet.com, as well as from local brands and stores, and delivered the same day. Walmart said that “the service uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) practices and expertise from professional buyers across the home, health, parenting, fashion and wellness categories, as well as parents themselves.”

Jetblack’s Inception

The project was incubated under Walmart’s tech incubator called Store No. 8 and operated in stealth mode as Code Eight before being launched as Jetblack. Jenny Fleiss, who is the Cofounder of apparel rental service Rent the Runway, cofounded Jetblack with the idea of providing “highly personalized, one-to-one shopping experiences.”

Others Operating Similar Services

Walmart is not the first retailer to launch a concierge-style shopping service,but is one of the few non-luxury retailers to provide it. Tysons Corner Center, Saks Fifth Avenue, Harrods, Net-A-Porter and Burberry have provided their customers the help of expert luxury buyers through a concierge service.And startups like Hello Alfred, offer a diverse range of services such as cleaning apartments, shopping for groceries, picking up dry cleaning and shipping packages. Jetblack stands out because it can be accessed via standard messaging and offers fast delivery for products ranging from everyday essentials to luxury items.

What We Think

Jetblack is certainly a front-runner in making personalized shopping and conversational commerce accessible to a broader segment of consumers, and is further evidence of Walmart’s ambitions to expand beyond its traditional shopper base. Walmart’s acquisitions of pure-play retailer and brands, such as Jet.com, Modcloth and Bonobos,were about pursuing a younger, more affluent shopper, and the launch of Jetblack continues that diversification of its shopper base.It remains to be seen whether Walmart will revise Jetblack’s introductory monthly fee of $50, which is already higher than that of more-commonly-used services such as Amazon Prime, which costs $12.99 per month, to grow its customer base further.