Walmart seeks bigger online fashion presence through acquisitions

Arkansas

WAL-MART Stores Inc's bid for clothing retailer Bonobos, which surfaced last week, is the latest step in the company's attempt to recover lost ground against Amazon.com Inc and others in the rapidly growing online fashion world, analysts and retail consultants said.

If Walmart succeeds, the move into fashion also would advance its effort to access younger, millennial customers who usually do not shop on Walmart.com.

A Bonobos deal would mark the company's fourth acquisition of a small online clothing-and-accessories brand since the start of 2017. The bi…