Overstock announces name change to Bed Bath & Beyond

It is learned that on June 29, American home furnishing e-commerce Overstock announced that the website domain name will be changed to Bed Bath & Beyond, and the name Overstock will no longer be used. It will continue to operate under the brand name "Bed Bath & Beyond".

On June 13, Overstock won the bid for the 3B home furnishing giant, and on June 27, the judge formally approved Overstock's acquisition of the intellectual property and digital assets of the 3B home furnishing giant. After the announcement, Overstock's stock price soared nearly 20% on Thursday, closing at more than $30, bringing Overstock's market value to $1.3 billion.

Overstock will first make changes to its Canadian site. From August to September, Overstock will make changes to its U.S. website, and the website domain will be uniformly changed to Bed Bath & Beyond's domain name. By the fourth quarter, Overstock will remove the "Overstock" name from its website and mobile app and use "Bed Bath & Beyond" as the brand name.

Overstock's loyalty program, ClubO, will also be changed to WelcomeRewards, which is also the name of Bed Bath & Beyond's loyalty program.

Since Jonathan Johnson took over as Overstock's CEO, he has been trying to reshape Overstock's brand image. Previously, he announced that all non-home furnishing categories of Overstock would be withdrawn in order to enhance its image as a home furnishing brand.

The name change is also intended to improve the brand image.

Johnson pointed out that Overstock was originally a liquidation company. As it positioned itself more like a home furnishing brand, the name "Overstock" no longer matched the company's brand image and even caused trouble for customers and suppliers.

Many consumers believe that Overstock's products are not of high quality, but it can provide a large number of discounted promotional items, but this is not the case, which will disappoint customers. For suppliers, only unsold goods will be provided to liquidation companies, which will affect Overstock's supply resources.

Johnson emphasized that Bed Bath & Beyond has a high degree of user overlap with Overstock and can make up for the latter's shortcomings in brand image. Combining Overstock's operating model with the strengths of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand will produce powerful synergies.

Despite Bed Bath & Beyond's mismanagement and eventual bankruptcy, Johnson said the brand still maintains strong brand awareness, and a certain overlap with Overstock users also helps with the transition. He believes; "Mismanagement can kill a company, but it won't kill a brand."

More importantly, using Bed Bath & Beyond as a brand could help boost Overstock's sales, which have slowed in both the U.S. and Canada after rapid growth in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Johnson said Overstock has seen the benefits of acquiring the Bed Bath & Beyond brand. Since the news of winning the bid came out, Overstock has added more than 100,000 SKUs in a week. Overstock will also continue Bed Bath & Beyond's discount offers, and it is expected that Overstock's existing customer base will also increase after the name change.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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