Walmart’s Jet.com (who promises 2 day delivery without a membership and free shipping over $35) is launching a new brand of household essential named Uniquely J. What is it that makes this brand ‘millenial-friendly’? Well, a few things. First, the design. Each product is wrapped in a unique pattern that definitely sets it apart. I personally find the designs pretty cool, but there’s also a downside to the packaging: the contents of the packages are displayed in a small square somewhere on the package and make it difficult to know what they are at a glance. One really has to look at the products closely to know what they are.
Another thing that younger consumers might find attractive about Uniquely J’s merchandise is that it speaks to their values when it comes to product sourcing. All the coffee available in the brand will be ‘fair trade’ and ‘organic’, for example. It isn’t yet known how Uniquely J’s products will be shipped or who is going to be manufacturing them, but we know that the brand will make its products available in the next 60 days or so and would span across dozens of household items and food categories. There has been no mention that Uniquely J products will eventually be available in Jet.com’s parent company Walmart’s stores, but I’ve heard that they will be available on Walmart.com in about a year.
Meredith Klein, Director of Public Relations at Jet.com, described Uniquely J in this way to TechCrunch: “From the boldly designed packaging, to the fun, witty label copy and quality ingredients — everything was designed with this metro consumer in mind”. I could find no information on how Uniquely J’s prices will compare to those of brand name items, or even to Walmart’s own labels like Great Value and Sam’s Choice.
This new label comes on the heels of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, Target’s new Target Restock service and Amazon’s Prime Pantry feature. The competition in the household essential delivery market is fierce, so Uniquely J will have to be on top of its game if it hopes to get even the tiniest piece of the pie.