Even as it expands its online presence, Walmart has struck a deal with GNC, the health and wellness company, to sell its products in the retail giant’s store.
“Through this partnership, Walmart will be carrying a thoughtfully curated product assortment,” stated a press release. Starting out, GNC said it will offer a selection of men’s and women’s vitamins in over 4,000 Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com. GNC expects to expand its offerings to include additional sports nutrition and weight-management products throughout Walmart’s U.S. stores.
“With this collaboration, we can deliver the GNC experience to a whole new group of consumers,” said Josh Burris, the company’s CEO, in the announcement. “The future of the wellness industry has a place for everyone, and GNC is making a healthy lifestyle more accessible than ever by delivering quality products to consumers via Walmart’s expansive network of stores.”
GNC itself has more than 4,800 retail locations throughout the United States, including more than 1,000 franchise and 1,200 Rite Aid store-within-a-store locations. It also has franchise operations in 46 international markets.
The deal with Walmart is part of GNC’s “expanding wholesale distribution,” Burris said. As consumers who are new to GNC products buy them at Walmart, the end result will be more customers in its stores, he added.
For its part, Walmart is gearing up to compete against Amazon’s Prime Day sales, set for June 21 and 22.
“Customers will find Black Friday-like savings on top of items from Walmart and its Marketplace sellers in electronics, home, toys, beauty, fashion,” the company said. In the announcement, Walmart said it will have both online-only and in-store-only savings and rollbacks, with deals starting on June 20.
When the original Prime Day was held six years ago, it was designed to celebrate the company’s 20th birthday on July 15, 2015. Since then, the online competition has heated up. Target is set to offer deals as well.
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