Walmart launches private-label furniture collection online

Walmart has launched an exclusive online furniture brand called MoDRN aimed at customers who “embrace a modern aesthetic.”

The new collection will be available through Walmart.com’s home section as well as on Walmart-owned sites Jet.com and Hayneedle.com, the company said.

The exclusive brand could pose a challenge to online furniture retailers and Amazon thanks to Walmart's large customer base and shopper data collection ability, Axios reports, although Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Target (NYSE:TGT) and Wayfair (NYSE:W) already have well-established private brands in the space, per Forbes.

MoDRN furniture will be grouped in three collections, Retro Glam, Refined Industrial and Scandinavian Minimal. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) said additional collections will be revealed in the coming months.

The collections will feature high-end materials like velvet and leather upholstery fabrics, Carrara marble table tops, native and exotic veneers, hand-brushed metal and brass accents, and solid wood features in white oak and walnut, the company said.

Prices will range from $700 to $899 for sofas, $599 to $649 for beds, $20 to $60 for barware, and $199 to $699 for indoor and outdoor dining tables and chairs.

Anthony Soohoo, SVP and Group General Manager, Home, Walmart U.S. eCommerce, said in a company blog that in the past year, the company has added hundreds of thousands of items to Walmart.com Home and has seen a nearly 35 percent increase in visits to the home section of its website.

Late last year, Hayneedle began testing new visual search technology developed by Walmart Labs that matches shoppers’ photos of furniture they like with something similar on the site.

The new technology will help customers who have a product in mind but who might be frustrated trying to find it because there are so many options, said Shelley Huff, vice president of Home, Walmart U.S. e-commerce, and president of Hayneedle.

Walmart bought Hayneedle along with its parent company, e-commerce site Jet.com, in 2016 for $3 billion. Jet.com founder Marc Lore joined Walmart as CEO of the company's U.S. e-commerce operations, and has driven the company’s acquisition of several online shopping platforms, including Art.com late last year.