Dive Brief:
- Walmart expanded its third-party digital marketplace with the launch of its Premium Musical Instrument Shop featuring a curated selection of music gear, the company said Tuesday.
- Walmart is billing the new digital storefront as the "first phase" of its broader effort to expand its professional music gear marketplace. The assortment includes brands such as Fender, Roland, Boss, Squier and Zildjian.
- Walmart’s dedicated marketplace storefront offers a range of merchandise, including amplifiers, pedals and drum accessories, designed for musicians of all skill levels.
Dive Insight:
With its marketplace expansion, Walmart is positioned to compete more directly with well-known music retailers such as Guitar Center and Sweetwater.
“We’re thrilled to bring some of the world’s most legendary music brands to Walmart Marketplace, giving customers access to the equipment they love from the names they respect,” Manish Joneja, senior vice president for Walmart Marketplace and Walmart Fulfillment Services, said in a statement. “This launch represents a major milestone in expanding our Marketplace into premium categories delivering both high quality and value, backed by Walmart’s scale, reliability, and convenience.”
In the retailer’s third quarter, Walmart’s U.S. sector saw e-commerce grow 28% with its marketplace reporting a 17% sales increase, outgoing CEO Doug McMillon noted on a call with analysts in November.
In general, the company’s marketplace has long been a channel for merchandise expansion.
“One of the things with our marketplace business, it's really allowing us to provide a much broader assortment than we have historically,” Executive Vice President and CFO John Rainey told analysts on the call. “And if you look on a category-by-category basis, there are places in our marketplace business like automotive, toys, electronics, apparel, that are all growing north of 40% year-on-year. And so it really shows that customers are coming to us with this broader assortment, and it's allowing us to cater to a broader set of customers than we have historically.”
Walmart in October grew its marketplace offerings by partnering with collectibles company Stadium Goods to sell footwear from brands such as Nike, Jordan and On. The retailer began selling collectibles and premium beauty through the third-party marketplace in 2024.
