Walmart’s Jet To Cut Fresh-Food Delivery In New York City -11/27/19

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  

Introduction

With your Retail E-Commerce Briefing for today, Wednesday, November 27th, I'm Vincent Phamvan.

Walmart-owned Jet is ending its fresh-food delivery in New York City. The news is another sign that the site is scaling back.

First, here are some retail headlines.  

Instagram Reveals Curated Collection of Products

Instagram revealed a curated collection of products just in time for the holidays. The collection’s products are inspired by the year’s biggest style trends. Users can buy the products without leaving the app using the Checkout on Instagram feature, which launched on beta in March and has since expanded, or they can save products to a personal shopping collection. The move comes as social commerce continues to grow. According to eMarketer, 34 percent of adults surveyed said they bought something through social media, up from 29 percent last year. Another 27 percent said they were interested in shopping on social media.

93% of Consumers Plan to Use In-Store Pick-Up

According to a survey from CommerceHub, 93% of consumers will look to pick up their purchases in stores this holiday season. When asked why they had chosen buy online, pick up in-store services, 49% said they could get their item quicker than having it shipped, 44% said it was less expensive because of shipping costs, and 5% were concerned about package theft. Shipping experiences have become increasingly important in the age of Amazon. Both small and large retailers will benefit from providing convenient shipping options to their customers.  

165 Million Expected to Shop Thanksgiving Through Cyber Monday

An estimated 165 million people are expected to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. Shoppers between the ages of 18 to 24 are the most likely to shop during Thanksgiving weekend. The NRF estimates the holiday season will generate over $730 billion, with predictions that online sales between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday will account for 20 percent of that revenue.  

Walmart’s Jet To Cut Fresh-Food Delivery In New York City  

Walmart’s Jet is ending its fresh-food delivery in New York City. The retailer will close a warehouse in the Bronx used to prepare orders and will cut between 200 to 300 jobs. Jet will continue to sell dry groceries like cereal and will inform customers of the news Friday and fulfill any existing orders already placed. The news is another sign that the site is scaling back. 

Since its launch last year, Jet’s fresh-food service has struggled. The company has resorted to raising prices to offset the costs of fulfilling orders in the nation’s biggest city. Key executives have left, and in recent months fresh-food items like avocados and strawberries have been out of stock.  

In an emailed statement, Walmart said, “We learned a lot by testing Jet fresh grocery delivery in New York City. We’ll continue to test bold concepts that can offer convenience to customers.” With Walmart projected to lose $1 billion within its e-commerce division, cutting Jet’s fresh-food delivery is one of the company’s latest moves in a strategy shift. Walmart also sold recently acquired digitally-native brand ModCloth and is building out its own brands instead of acquiring more.

Closing  

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Thanks for listening to this latest episode of the Retail E-Commerce Briefing. Until next time.