Every now and again a deal comes along and you wonder “What took so long?” This week’s announced partnership between home improvement matchmaker Angi and Walmart has that kind of vibe.
After all, who among us hasn’t purchased a big screen TV thinking, “Sure, I can install the wall mount. No problem.” Yet we really knew deep down we were lying to ourselves and needed help.
Well, help is now on the way. And in the case of a TV wall mounting job, it’s on the way for $79. If you want someone to assemble your furniture, it’s $49. Walmart customers can also request quotes from a “dedicated project advisor” on bigger jobs like painting a room or installing wood flooring.
Yesterday, the two companies announced a deal that makes Angi’s network of service pros available to Walmart customers at 4,000 Walmart stores. That’s the lion’s share of U.S. locations. It’s also available nationwide online.
All services provided through this partnership will be backed by the Angi Happiness Guarantee. So if the skilled craftsperson Angi sends around faceplants with your flatscreen, you’re covered.
This is the first time Angi has partnered with a retailer to offer these services on a limited-time, exclusive basis.
Who Are These $49 Gig Workers?
Our first question when we saw this was, who’s taking these $49 jobs? Given the well-known shortage of tradespeople, it’s hard to imagine anyone bothering with such a small job. The deal announcment offers little help on this question. It’s hard to see the “great resignation” diaspora will ending putting together furniture for Walmart shoppers. But who knows?
Angi does claim it has 250,000 pros in its network capable of performing 500 tasks. So perhaps there is a lid for every pot in its network. Still,the challenges in finding contractors that we all either experience or listen to boring stories about does beg the question of how seamless this will be for consumers.
So while this seems like a good product extension for Walmart, and a good source of leads for Angi to funnel to its pros, there may be some brand risk. To Walmart in particular.
Big Deal for the New Guy
This deal comes a year after Angi shook up its C-suite, replacing CEO Brandon Ridenour with its chief prodcuct officer Oisin Hanrahan.
Ridenour had taken the helm at Angi back in 2018 after several years as the comapny’s CTO and head of product. That same year ANGI acquired Handy Technologies, and along with it Hanrahan, its Irish-born and Harvard-educated founder.
ANGI itself is the progeny of the merger of Angie’s List and Home Advisor. And the combined company sits within the IAC group of companies.
ANGI had a pretty decent 2021, at least on the top line. The bottom line remains grim. Its full year results aren’t out yet. In Q3 2021, however, the company grew its revneue by 18% to $461.6 million. However its operating loss grew from 3 million in Q3 2020 to $15 million last year.
The company attribted the increased loss to “Increased selling and marketing expense due primarily to commencing the process of consolidating under a single brand on March 17, 2021, which has adversely affected both free and paid search engine marketing efforts.”
