Walmart’s new website takes aim at Amazon

A redesigned Walmart website will go live next month, part of a strategy by the world’s largest retailer to lure customers away from rival Amazon.com with a more personalized shopping experience.

The new site will include new colors, fonts and lifestyle-focused imagery, according to a blog post from Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce chief Marc Lore.

The site’s homepage will feature top-selling items in each customer’s location and a quick link to purchase previously ordered items. It will also include a new fashion section, while other categories will get a fresh look later in the year.

“We want each category to feel like you are shopping a specialty store,” Lore said in the post. “Our goal is to make it compelling for customers to shop for whatever they are looking for — whether diapers, laundry detergent or a new dining room table.”

The redesign, which Lore first mentioned at an October investor conference, aims to convince Walmart’s frugal in-store shoppers to buy online as well: Those that do spend nearly twice as much. The fresh look could also help the retailer regain momentum it lost over the holiday period, when online sales grew at less than half the pace of previous quarters.

The retailer is chasing a moving target, though, as Amazon continues to push into key Walmart categories like fashion and food.

Lore said the redesign was based on feedback from customers, existing suppliers and also from brands that don’t currently sell on the site.

He has pledged to make Walmart.com more of an upscale destination by courting premium brands, like Bose speakers. The new fashion page will eventually include items from department-store chain Lord & Taylor, which inked a partnership with Walmart last year.