Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) announced Monday plans to launch an online marketplace that gives customers more choices at Walmart.com. With nearly 1 million items available through a number of retailers, Walmart Marketplace, which has products from categories such as home, baby, apparel, toys, sporting goods and memorabilia, lets outside sellers market new products at Walmart.com while providing customers with more selection and added convenience.
“We’ve added nearly one million new items to our online assortment with the introduction of Walmart Marketplace, making it even easier for customers to find more of what they want when shopping Walmart.com,” said Kerry Cooper, Walmart.com’s chief marketing officer.
Walmart said it made the selection of the participating group of retailers in Walmart Marketplace based on their large product assortments, quality brands, and strong customer service track records. The world’s largest retailer also said that it will continue to grow the Walmart Marketplace program with additional retailers over the next year.
With the wide-array of goods available, the site could emerge as a challenger for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). Online Amazon.com, which has dominated the shopping landscape, attracted 67 million unique U.S. visitors in July, versus 33 million for Walmart.com, according to web analytics company, Compete.
Shares of Walmart Stores lost 55 cents to $50.98 in midday NYSE trading.
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