The world’s largest retailer is offering department store chain Lord & Taylor dedicated space on its website. Come spring, walmart.com customers will be able to buy higher-end clothing and accessories from Lord & Taylor. And Lord & Taylor hopes to gain more customers for its website by having Wal-Mart host its storefront. Moody’s retail analyst Charlie O’Shea said, “The announcement that Walmart would begin offering Lord & Taylor merchandise on its website in 2018 is yet another indication of the verve with which Walmart is attacking online sales.” The partnership provides Walmart.com more premium products, and it brings in a crowd that normally doesn’t shop there: millennial customers. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest clothing retailer, but not online. That’s where rival Amazon leads. Wal-Mart has struggled to lure affluent young consumers. It’s also had a hard time persuading well-known apparel brands to sell on its website due to its brand perception and its base of low-income customers. Wal-Mart is fighting back. It has bought Bonobos, Shoes.com, Modcloth and other small online fashion brands.
