Bed Bath and Beyond Ties Up with Kroger in Big New Deal
By far the biggest news yesterday was the news of partnership between Bed Bath and Beyond and Kroger, which sent Bed Bath's stock soaring. What's happened?
Two things:
1 - Bed Bath & Beyond announced its own digital marketplace. Fun fact, I talked with Bed Bath about building its own marketplace almost 8 years ago.
Although it wasn't announced, I have pretty much no doubt it is Mirakl powering this, as this is the same provider used by Kroger's marketplace.
2 - Bed Bath & Beyond announced it will power a number of home and baby categories for Kroger online, and in the future some stores.
First things first.
What is being completely unsaid here is that Wall St. sees an eventual merger between Kroger and Bed Bath. Which could make some sense. Kroger needs a larger / deeper category footprint to compete against Walmart and Amazon in the long-term.
Second of all.
Building your own marketplace is a long-term proposition. It's not a quick win. I don't think that's why the stock moved. I think it's more related to the Kroger deal by far.
Finally -- the deal starts with Kroger online. Essentially, Bed Bath is dropshipping for Kroger, did I get that right? Some stores testing was mentioned but "in the future". Usually a retailer dropshipping for another retailer is not so profitable.
I'm left wondering if the play here is really about Bed Bath's new private label brands. Also something no one seems to be mentioning. Bed Bath needs distribution for these new brands it is creating.
