Walmart Launches E-Commerce Solution for Women

Walmart will launch a dedicated page on its website that will feature an assortment of products created by women in nearly two dozen countries, including women who work in cooperatives and own small businesses. The page will launch in spring 2012, and by 2016 the retailer said the site will feature approximately 500 items by more than 20,000 women around the world.

 

"The challenge for small women-owned businesses — and particularly women artisans — is that they have a fantastic product, but they may not have the size or scale to sell in our brick-and-mortar stores," says Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Walmart. "This commitment today gives these women access to an established set of customers on Walmart.com, as well as the benefit of the company's knowledge about customers, packaging and promotions."

 

Products on the page will include jewelry from Guatemala, Thailand and Ethiopia; coffee from Central and South America; and dresses from Kenya. By 2016, the dedicated e-commerce site will feature items from apparel and jewelry to stationary and accessories by more than 20,000 women in nearly two dozen countries.