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Walmart is Reportedly Partnering with Lord & Taylor to Create an Online Mall

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According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, retail giant Walmart (WMT - Free Report) is nearing a deal that will see department store Lord & Taylor begin selling its goods and products on Walmart.com.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said that this partnership would create a type of “online mall that shoppers could access from Walmart’s website.” Competitors like Amazon.com (AMZN - Free Report) and even Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) offer retailers dedicated spaces like this to brands on their sites, which allow for both an increase in traffic to e-commerce platforms and boost retailers’ online inventory.

Lord & Taylor, part of Canada’s Hudson Bay portfolio, which also owns high-end department store Saks Fifth Avenue, attracts a similar customer as Nordstrom (JWN - Free Report) or Macy’s-owned (M - Free Report) Bloomingdale’s. While one might not necessarily think of Walmart and Lord & Taylor fitting together, Walmart’s e-commerce head Marc Lore has been working tirelessly to build a more upper-end reputation for Walmart.com.

Just look at the company’s most recent digital acquisitions, and you’ll notice a major shift in Walmart’s e-commerce direction. From Bonobos and ModCloth to Moosejaw, Shoebuy, and Jet.com, Walmart’s online division is undoubtedly moving more upscale.

There will no doubt be some major hurdles to overcome if the deal goes through. For instance, Lord & Taylor’s core customer skews much older and more suburban than Walmart’s recent acquisitions, which targeted a more urban, millennial consumer.

But Lord & Taylor could also welcome this partnership as a way to compete against Amazon, especially as a way to stay afloat in the crowded e-commerce space. If getting helped by America’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer and Amazon’s biggest rival is the catch, then so be it.

The WSJ noted that Lord & Taylor will continue to operate online, but shoppers of lordandtaylor.com will now be able to pick up and return items and Walmart’s 4,700 U.S. retail stores.

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