Dive Brief:
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Walmart home site Allswell, which has focused on selling mattresses and bedding, expanded into the bath category, the company announced on Tuesday.
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The collection will include stonewashed waffle towels, bath robes and slippers, according to a press release. The collection, the company said, "features artisanal-quality design details and sustainably-sourced materials" at "insider prices."
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In addition to the bath collection, Allswell also said it expanded its bedding assortment with "bed basics," which include pillows, mattress pads and duvet inserts, as well as new bedding sets.
Dive Insight:
Allswell's announcement to build out its assortment and expand into additional categories may indicate Walmart is betting on its homegrown digital brands to build out its e-commerce business, rather than the ones it has acquired in recent years.
Walmart in 2016 acquired Jet for $3 billion, and not too long after scooped up women's apparel e-commerce site Modcloth and menswear brand Bonobos.
But those acquisitions may not be paying off as Walmart initially hoped. The company in June nixed Jet's lead exec role, and in July reportedly indicated it may sell its ModCloth unit, according to a Recode report.
Focusing on its homegrown brands — especially one in a growing category — may bode well for the retail giant. Between 2013 and 2018, the home goods market in brick and mortar, and online grew 20.9% and 88.7% respectively, according to data from Euromonitor International.
For the brand, expanding beyond mattresses may also be essential as the space gets more saturated with competition from direct-to-consumer brands and legacy players, alike. Casper, a major DTC player leading the mattress disruption, has since expanded into other categories like dog beds, smart nightlights and most recently, CBD. It's a move other digitally native brands have followed, as well. For pure-players — like Allbirds and Away, which have entered into additional categories beyond those they launched in — it may be a means of survival.
