It’s not surprising that Jet.com is taking a back seat to Walmart.com. Part of what Walmart acquired in Jet.com was a team with knowledge and knowhow that Walmart did not possess, and I expect that the Jet.com team will continue to do just that. However, it was never a forgone conclusion that Jet.com would be leading Walmart’s online efforts in the long-term.

While the Walmart.com name may not have the cool cachet as Jet.com may with some consumers, ultimately consumer acceptance will come down to the user experience, product mix and service features it offers.

There are two statements in this discussion that, I believe, answer the question. One statement is the obvious — Walmart acquired e-tailer talent almost overnight and I suspect most of those people are still gainfully employed, even if not necessarily supporting Jet.com any longer.

The second is the acquisition of a long Jet.com customer list, maybe including consumers who might not otherwise have been Walmart customers, and whom Walmart can now reach directly and try to steer them in the direction of Walmart, their omnichannel retailer. As some have said, maybe it doesn’t matter what happens to Jet.com, the name. Nobody cares what happened to Kinkos when FedEx took it in.

Jet.com along with the other recent Walmart digital native acquisitions, including Bonobos, Modcloth, and others, represent the next wave of digital first, and innovation leadership for the company. While the Walmart.com name will most certainly dominate from a branding perspective, the innovation, fresh strategies, agility, and creativity for the company lie within Walmart’s very diverse digital first portfolio of brands.

While Jet.com brand, does indeed have a marketplace recognition, ultimately you are engaging with the Walmart brand. Consumers will be more than happy to remain loyal to the Walmart brand, if all the seamlessness, personalization, vast assortments, endless aisle capabilities, omnichannel and innovations are embedded throughout the organization, regardless of which brand name you are engaging with.

Talk of getting rid of Jet.com arises from a misunderstanding of how Walmart is using the brand.

As a stand-alone entity, Jet.com naturally wanted to attract as many customers as it could. Marketing spend reflected this. Under Walmart, Jet.com is a more focused entity which targets specific consumers (mainly younger, urban shoppers) that Walmart finds it hard to reach.

I don’t see Jet.com as either under threat or as useless. However, its role and purpose have changed, and will likely to continue to evolve under Walmart as it becomes a more seamless part of Walmart’s proposition.

I’m surprised that Walmart hasn’t yet merged Jet.com into walmart.com. It’s just a matter of time before it happens. In this space, it appears that walmart.com is competing against jet.com. As the two sites merge, the need to keep up appeal for their different market segments is of the utmost importance.

With its fast pace of digital-first retail acquisitions, Walmart is building an online house of brands in a shrewd power play intended to broaden its appeal to younger, more upscale shoppers in cities. Jet.com is the platform for this activity, and its founder and CEO Mark Lore is the mastermind.

To me this signifies several key factors about the Walmart/walmart.com brand: It has essentially filled out its geographic footprint and needs new tactics to increase productivity. The core brand doesn’t appeal equally to all shopper segments, so it makes sense to invest in a portfolio of digital-first brands that it can grow fast.

Jet.com on its own doesn’t look like a strong rival to Amazon.com, but the collection of brands (including Walmart.com) adds up to a significant, deep-pocketed competitive challenge. I think Jet.com will stay vital to this strategy for some time, as Walmart pursues its unprecedented effort to dig itself out of the “big middle” of mass retail.