Walmart Is Now Delivering Kids’ Clothing Direct to Your Door — Could Shoes Be Next?
In its push to become a bigger player in the fashion world, Walmart will soon be making house calls. The Arkansas-based retailer announced today that it is partnering with New York startup Kidbox to offer Walmart.com customers the opportunity to order exclusive, individually curated assortments of kids’ clothing that will deliver straight to their door. Kidbox will have a dedicated landing page on Walmart’s site.
After parents fill out a short quiz for their children, Kidbox’s team of stylists will assemble a personalized box of four to five handpicked items from its roster of more than 120 premium brands including Puma, BCBG, Butter Super Soft, Quiksilver, Bombas, Disney and C&C California. Each box — tailored according to the child’s style preferences, the season and where the child lives — costs $48, a savings of roughly 50% off the suggested retail price for the bundle of items.
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Available for girls sizes 0 to 14 and boys sizes 0 to 16, the boxes feature items such as sweaters, jeans, dresses, graphic T-shirts and other casualwear. (While shoes are not currently offered, Walmart could consider including them in the future as other kids’ subscription brands have done.) Parents can schedule delivery on demand or sign up for automatic shipments of up to six boxes a year timed to the changing seasons, back-to-school and holiday.
“Over the last year, we have significantly expanded our portfolio of kids’ fashion brands as part of our broader effort to establish Walmart.com as a destination for fashion. Our partnership with Kidbox enables us to round out our offering with additional national and premium kids’ brands,” said Denise Incandela, head of fashion for Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce operations. “We are thrilled to partner with Kidbox on our first kids’ subscription apparel service, offering premium brands at a substantial savings.”
Kidbox CEO Miki Berardelli said the alliance with Walmart allows the company to reach even more families across the country. “Walmart has done a lot over the past year to establish itself as a go-to retailer for all things fashion, and we’re honored to partner with [them] to expand their kids’ assortment online, while also saving parents time and offering them the value and convenience of a style box,” she said.
In the growing subscription fashion brand space, Kidbox is a rising star. Since shipping its first boxes in 2016, the company has seen rapid growth, attracting investment partners. Last year, Kidbox scored $15.3 million in series B funding from a group led by Canvas Ventures, and to date, it has raised $28 million.
But the company faces stiff competition in a business that continues to heat up as more parents seek the convenience of subscription boxes for their children. Leading adult styling service Stitch Fix jumped into the kids’ category last year, while newcomer Rockets of Awesome caught the eye of retail heavyweight Foot Locker, which invested $12.5 million in the fledgling company in February. Target, meanwhile, launched a babywear-focused subscription box service for its private-label brand Cat & Jack. Other top players include Kidpik, FabKids and Dopple.
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