Overstock.com is now operating as Bed Bath & Beyond in the US following a successful rebrand in Canada, the chief executive officer told Bloomberg TV.
“The experience we’ve had in Canada [was] very positive and made us want to hurry and start today’s rebrand in the US,” Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Jonathan Johnson said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. He said the rebranded website in Canada has had more customer traffic, a greater return on advertising spending and a greater portion of shoppers who browsed and then bought items.
As of Tuesday, US shoppers who go to Overstock.com are automatically redirected to a revamped Bed Bath & Beyond site.
In June, Overstock paid $21.5 million for some of the bankrupt retailer’s assets and intellectual property. The deal didn’t include Bed Bath & Beyond’s network of stores or its Buybuy Baby brand.
Johnson said suppliers were signing up to work with the revived Bed Bath & Beyond.
“We’ll just be Bed Bath and a much bigger and better Beyond,” he said.
Analysts say the June deal makes strategic sense, in theory, because Bed Bath & Beyond had more customers and better name recognition than Overstock.
Overstock seeks to boost sluggish revenue due to a struggling homewares category and falling market share. Analysts say they’re waiting to see how successful Overstock will be at retaining customers and bringing on new ones.
“The heavy lifting is still ahead in marketing and re-training consumers to engage with a new website/app during a difficult time for the home market,” Raymond James analyst Rick Patel wrote in a July 27 research note after Overstock’s quarterly earnings.
