I still remember when Jet.com first launched. The media and internet touted them as an online retailer that could compete with Amazon. They had an interesting business model that was along the lines of things get cheaper the more you purchase. However, the notion of a membership fee was a tremendous turnoff for me, because I don’t really want to pay to have the right to shop.
Regardless, Jet seemed to do well without cheapskates like me supporting them. To the point where they attracted the eye of the much-reviled Wal-Mart, and ultimately sold to them for $3.3 billion dollars, because they thought that acquiring Jet would help them combat Amazon.
So it sounds like Jet has really hit the big time, but then I saw this commercial recently that makes me wonder just what in the world they’re thinking. Jet’s been pushing something called the “Careculator” in conjunction with their mobile app, where the thought process is that people can put a price on their friends and family.