Jetblack, Walmart’s conversational commerce startup, chirped quietly to life in May 2018, expanding the digital agenda of the world’s biggest retailer among an invitation-only group of shoppers in New York City.
The goal, according to Jennifer Fleiss, Jetblack’s co-founder/CEO, is to unlock the secrets of what it takes to sell products via quick, intimate, text transactions that are tailored to the need of individual consumers, then apply the learning on a massive, Walmart scale.
While the service costs $50 per month, compared with $119 for Amazon’s Prime rapid-delivery service, the hope is that offering a truly...