At a time when some retailers are either offering up curb-side delivery to consumers who order online, or as others are partnering with Amazon ($AMZN) in hopes of maintaining viability, WalMart ($WMT) has the option of providing consumers pickup and delivery options - which, with Jet properly positioned in the consumer marketplace, it has an opportunity to exploit to its advantage.
But the company is reportedly losing money within WalMart, and other big bets by the Arkansas-based mega-retailer appear to have soured as well.
Jet hiring is up
Jet.com job postings are taking off under corporate parent WalMart three years after a $3.3 billion deal - and it could be a sign that the mega-retailer is still putting up a fight in the digtital marketplace against e-commerce giant Amazon.
Bonobos social engagement is down
Bonobos' Facebook's ($FB) Talking About Count - or how often people are discussing a specific brand on the social network - reflects a drop-off in engagement that should be cause for concern in Bentonville.
WalMart may decide to sell womens' and mens' e-commerce clothing businesses Modcloth and Bonobos, according to a report in Vox last month. Both startups were acquired in 2017, around a year after WalMart struck its deal to snap up Jet. That same report also indicated that WalMart executives have become impatient with Jet.com, which is expected to lose $1 billion on more than $20 billion in revenue.
In spite of their e-commerce investments' performance, WalMart's online sales rose 37% in the first quarter. The company will announce its second quarter earnings August 16, and analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research are expecting EPS $1.21.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.