Jet.com's Uniquely J is one unique private brand

The Walmart-Amazon rivalry just got more compelling — thanks to a sleek new private brand introduced by Walmart’s Jet.com, which is sure to beckon the attention of consumers who shop online.

Walmart, which is slowly becoming an online giant in its own right — see Walmart expects e-commerce sales to increase 40 percent next year — acquired Jet.com last year for $3 billion in cash. Earlier this week, Jet.com rolled out its nifty Uniquely J private brand with a solid marketing plan behind it. Walmart and Jet.com are hitting on all cylinders fueling private brands these days, and are clearly going after millennials with Uniquely J’s “carefully curated” products.

First, the products in the line are only available online, where sales of everything from toilet paper to TVs are flying off the shelves (you get the drift) in a retail world that is slowly but undoubtedly embracing ecommerce. The Census Bureau recently reported that retail e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2017 were $111.5 billion, an increase of 4.8 percent from the first quarter of 2017. E-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2017 accounted for 8.2 percent of total retail sales.

Second, Uniquely J products were developed with “key qualities” that Jet.com says its shoppers — again, millennials — are seeking, including plant-based ingredients for cleaning products; USDA Certified organic and Fair Trade Certified beans for the coffees; and BPA-free plastics for the food storage bags. In other words, Jet.com has embraced several elements that private brand pontiffs say should be embraced to differentiate and succeed.

“Uniquely J was created to make it easier for busy consumers to get their everyday essentials without having to give up the things they care about,” said Dan Hooker, general manager of private brands for Jet.com and Walmart e-commerce, in a press release. “With Uniquely J, we want to eliminate the tradeoffs consumers face; the purchase decision becomes an easy one when each product offers the trifecta of quality, style and value.”

Jet.com has launched more than 50 products across the coffee, cleaning, laundry, pantry, paper and food storage categories, including Uniquely J Organic Sriracha Sauce; Uniquely J Clean Living All Purpose Cleaner, Lemon Thyme Basil; Uniquely J Ultra Strong Toilet Paper; and Uniquely J Organic and Fair Trade Medium Roast Ground Coffee.

With Uniquely J, Jet.com is clearly going after the hip crowd, not my 87-year-old mother. Consider the Uniquely J Badass Espresso, which is packaged in a box that could pass as the cover for a Guns N’ Roses album. Jet.com has not only invested in the appearance of the packaging, but it has taken private label packaging to new territory.

More products will to added to the brand in the coming months and continuously over time.

“Uniquely J is not just Jet.com’s entry into the private brands space, it also furthers our efforts to serve the metropolitan consumer with a select assortment of premium products while also offering them a great shopping experience,” Liza Landsman, president of Jet.com, said in a press release.

Based in Hoboken, N.J., Jet.com was developed by entrepreneur Marc Lore and launched in 2015 to appeal to the “busy, discerning shopper.” Lore also developed Quidsi (the parent company of a number of Diapers.com) before selling it to Amazon for $545 million in 2012. Oh, the irony.