Walmart sells its online plus-size brand Eloquii

Walmart is selling the online apparel brand Eloquii to FullBeauty Brands, marking the retailer’s third divestiture of a direct-to-consumer brand this year.

The big-box retailer sold Bonobos to WHP Global and Express earlier this month and offloaded Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods in February. The sales are a reversal of a 2017-18 strategy led by Marc Lore, Walmart’s former head of e-commerce.

The retailer bought Eloquii in 2018 for a reported $100 million, one of the numerous digital apparel brands with niche and loyal consumer bases. The goal was to build out the retailer’s online assortment with higher-margin apparel and home merchandise. The acquisitions would also bring in talent that could help Walmart accelerate its digital strategy.

“Eloquii joined Walmart’s portfolio of digitally native vertical brands to expand our Women’s assortment in sizes 14+ and offer the unique and differentiated product in an underserved but growing segment,” Walmart spokesperson Jaeme Laczkowski said in a statement. “Since acquiring Eloquii, Walmart.com has grown to hundreds of millions of items, and we’ve decided it’s the right time to sell Eloquii.”

FullBeauty Brands is buying Eloquii for an undisclosed sum, retaining its co-founder and brand leader, Julie Carnevale. Eloquii will join a portfolio of online plus-size apparel, shoes, and swimwear brands under FullBeauty Brands, which has 5 million active customers. 

Walmart re-engineering its business in 2023

Walmart is re-engineering its supply chain and business model in 2023. The brand aims to fulfill customer needs with a more intelligent and connected omnichannel network enabled by greater data use, intelligent software, and automation. 

The outcome improves in-stock, inventory accuracy, and flow whether customers shop in stores, pick up, or have a delivery.

Walmart showcased its supply chain innovation Tuesday at its Brooksville, Fla., regional distribution center as one piece of how the company is building a scaled system of supply chain capabilities that uses data, software, and robotics. 

Through automation and state-of-the-art technology, the company illustrated how the increased item storage allows the distribution center to provide a more consistent, predictable, and higher-quality delivery service to stores and customers and react more quickly to customer demand.

Stores operate as a place to shop and as fulfillment centers and delivery stations. Distribution and fulfillment centers hold a mix of items from suppliers and sellers. This allows Walmart to use its existing assets more flexibly and efficiently for new working methods.

By the end of Fiscal Year 2026, Walmart believes roughly 65% of stores will be serviced by automation, approximately 55% of the fulfillment center volume will move through automated facilities, and unit cost averages could improve by about 20%.

As the changes are implemented across the business, one of the outcomes is roles that require less physical labor but have a higher pay rate. Over time, the company anticipates increased throughput per person due to automation while maintaining or improving its associates' number as new roles are created.