INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In March, Walmart announced it was partnering with Handy to sell its in-home installation and assembly services in over 2,000 of its
brick-and-mortar retail stores
Now, that partnership is expanding to Walmart e-commerce site, too
This week, Walmart began offering online shoppers the ability to add Handy services to their cart at checkout
This allows customers to order in-home installations for things like mounting TVs, or get help with assembling their furniture, among other
things.
The news was first reported by Bloombergon Wednesday, when Handy became available to online shoppers
However, the full rollout of Handy across Walmart e-commerce site will continue throughout September & meaning, if you don&t see the option
now, you will fairly soon.
Founded in 2012, New York-based Handy lets anyone book household services like cleaners, plumbers, handyman
The company, which is backed by $110 million in VC funding, has grown over the years to over 80,000 service professionals on its platform,
and has served over half a million customers over half a million bookings.
Being offered by Walmart both in stores, and now online, has been
a big win for the services provider, as it greatly expands its ability to reach customers without having to spend on marketing.
Via the
website, Handy will be offered for indoor projects, including furniture assembly ($95), hanging TVs ($79), installing ACs ($90), and a
number of others like hanging ceiling fans, installing garbage disposals, installing lighting, and more
Handy says the range of services may be expanded in the future
In addition, Walmart may choose to offer Handy full range of services at some point & which includes things like housecleaning and various
handyman services.
Services are a critical area for online retailers, and one where Walmart chief rival Amazon has been ramping up over the
years, following the official launch of its Home Services site in 2015
Since then, Amazon has been expanding its services business to include those that help customers set up their smart home, and, most
recently, install home security systems like Amazon Cloud Cam, Ring doorbell, and others.
By enabling more customers to add smart home
devices, Amazon also helps to boost its Amazon Echo / Alexa device business, too & as smart home control is one of the primary use cases
Over time, Amazon can monetize its Alexa home through subscriptions and skills purchases, voice ads, shopping, and more.
Adding services
to e-commerce sites allows retailers to also generate more revenue from online shoppers, without having to stock more inventory
Customers benefit as well, since installation and assembly services were traditionally offered by the brick-and-mortar stores they once
frequented, but were slower to arrive online.
IKEA is also venturing into this space & it acquired TaskRabbit in fall 2017, and thenrolled
out its own furniture assembly service earlier this year, both online and in stores.
Walmart, meanwhile, has a history of leveraging
partnerships to venture into areas where it wants to challenge Amazon and others.
For instance, because it doesn&t have its own e-readers
and e-books service, it teamed up with Rakuten Kobo for its new e-book store; and because it doesn&t have its own smart speaker like the
Amazon Echo, it partnered with Google to offer voice-shopping through Google Home devices instead.
The Handy installation services will be
available via Walmart website in the U.S
when the rollout completes in September.
