Walmart Introduces Intimates and Sleepwear Brand Joyspun
Walmart continues to invest in its fashion category, even as some consumers pull back on discretionary spending.
The mass merchant on Monday unveiled Joyspun, a new intimates and sleepwear brand, aiming to further establish itself as a fashion destination. The firm is also hoping to snag some added market share in the innerwear world.
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“We look at our brand portfolio all the time and part of our strategy is expanding and elevating our assortment,” Denise Incandela, executive vice president of apparel and private brands at Walmart U.S., told WWD. “It, of course, involves taking a fresh look at our private brand offerings and making sure we’re bringing exciting new lines to reflect consumer trends. And one of the trends that we were getting very excited about was the intimates category.”
The introduction of Joyspun replaces Secret Treasures, Walmart’s previous billion-dollar intimates and sleepwear brand. Secret Treasures launched in 1999 and had “significant consumer awareness,” Incandela said.
In fact, one-fifth of total consumers in the combined U.S. women’s intimate apparel and sleepwear categories shopped Secret Treasures in the 12 months ending January 2022, according to the NPD Group’s Checkout Analytics.
That’s not only sizable, but gives lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret — which continues to hold the title of market share leader in the U.S. intimates apparel market, with 21 percent, according to NPD — a run for its money. But it seems both brands are in the process of reinventing themselves.
In the case of Walmart, Incandela said there was an opportunity for the retailer to offer a “new, modern brand that offered elevated, fashionable, feel good intimates and sleepwear, at an accessible price point. A lot of [direct-to-consumer brands], over the course of the last five years, [are] coming into the space with a fresh modern take. So we wanted to reimagine Secret Treasures and do something completely new and joyful and positive, with body positivity, women’s empowerment, all that.”
But she stressed that sleepwear is “the DNA of the brand.”
“Walmart has a massive sleepwear business,” Incandela explained. “It’s very important for this time of year, during holiday. This is where we really pop.”
According to the same NPD survey, Walmart had the largest consumer wallet share among U.S. women’s sleepwear brands in 2021. (Second highest wallet share when combined with U.S. intimates brands, behind VS.)
“Apparel is very important for fourth quarter,” Incandela said. “And lingerie and intimates and sleep are extremely important. Sleep is a huge gift-giving category.
“We’re starting from huge consumer awareness and loyalty,” she added. “In many cases, 10, 20 years of loyalty. So leveraging the exposure and loyalty we have from the [Secret Treasures] customer, but also reimaging the product. So we not only keep the core customer but are attracting a new customer, because of this kind of fresh, new take on the brand.”
But Joyspun is arriving to the market with more players than there were nearly three decades ago. Nearly every lingerie brand (and many ready-to-wear brands too) — from ThirdLove to sustainable brand Cozy Earth to Harper Wilde to Fabletics — launched some type of sleepwear or loungewear during the pandemic as consumers were hunkering down at home. There are new brands as well, some of which are wildly popular thanks to their celebrity brand names, such as Kim Kardashian’s Skims and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty.
Retailers are navigating a number of industrywide headwinds, such as consumers returning to the office, inflation and a decline in discretionary purchases. At Walmart, apparel sales fell in the most recent quarter, leading to excess inventory.
In a Walmart blog post, Incandela said many consumers were bargain shopping as prices continue to rise, making this the perfect time to launch a new affordably priced brand. Joyspun’s elevated fabrics and design, combined with affordable price points, also make it unique in the market, she said.
In terms of the former, Incandela acknowledged that “the big opportunity was where people were going back to work and wearing dresses and more tailored clothing and those categories that are popping in a big way. But I think people are constantly updating their intimates. Updating their bras and underwear. So it’s kind of a steady, safe business.”
Joyspun, which is now available at walmart.com and in Walmart stores, consists of about 300 styles across sleepwear and innerwear. The assortment includes bras and bralettes, socks, underwear, hosiery, sleep shirts, robes, maternity and more, priced between $7.98 to $34.98. Sizes range from 34A to 46DDD in bras and XS to 3XL in underwear.
Walmart used a group of in-house designers to modernize Joyspun’s assortment with new silhouettes, lace detailing, buttery fabrics, mesh, quilted robes, printed satin separates and other on-trend prints.
“We have reengineered the fit for every body type to take the brand to the next level,” Incandela said.
Joyspun is the latest effort from Walmart to boost its fashion sales.
Most recently, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer launched the “be-your-own-model” capability on the Walmart app, which was made possible by way of Walmart’s acquisition of virtual fitting room platform Zeekit last year. The function allows shoppers to upload a photo and see how they would look in various outfits before they buy, or even enter a store. The company plans to expand the technology to desktop computers and Android devices at a later date.
Additional acquisitions, as well as high-profile collaborations and its own creative efforts, have helped Walmart build an impressive roster of its own brands in recent years. Brands include Time and Tru, Bonobos, Eloquii Elements, Love & Sport, Jeans by Sofía Vergara and the Free Assembly and Scoop lines, both of which are under the creative direction of designer Brandon Maxwell. There’s also a growing list of national brands available at Walmart, such as Free People, Champion, Levi Strauss, Claire’s and World Rugby Hall of Famer Phaidra Knight’s PSK Collective.
The mass merchant also dropped more than $3 billion in 2016 to buy Jet.com, in an effort to ramp up its online business. The company has since shut down Jet, but continues to incorporate Jet’s online expertise into Walmart’s e-commerce businesses.
Walmart recently said it would be closed for Thanksgiving. But the company will be working overtime during the fourth quarter holiday shopping season to sustain customer interest.
“This is our Super Bowl,” Incandela said. “We’re getting ready.”
