Dive Brief:

• Walmart has launched a new private label line of technology accessories, Motile, according to its website.

• The line, which the company describes as "smart accessories for an untethered world," includes neoprene and faux leather duffels and totes, as well as phone cases, phone chargers and keyboards. Prices range from $18 to $138.

• The launch appears to be a competitive move against a tech accessories private label brand Heyday debuted by Target this summer.

Dive Insight:

Private label product has become a critical differentiator for mass merchandisers like Walmart, Target and Amazon over the last several years. Each has doubled down on their owned brand offerings to differentiate and protect margins.

From the beginning of 2017 to April of this year, Amazon added 66 private label brands, which was six times the labels it launched in the two-year period before that, according to Gartner L2. Target, for its part, launched eight just this year. Of those brands, four fall under apparel, while two focus on home — two category mainstays for Target.

Heyday, which offers over 150 tech accessories like speakers, headphones, phone cases and chargers, is Target's first stab at a consumer electronics brand. Target's Chief Merchandising Officer Mark Tritton told Forbes in August that so far the line is resonating with consumers. He added that the company is thinking of adding more categories. The line is also a move specifically geared at relating to the Gen Z and millennial shopper, Tritton previously said.

With Heyday's prices ranging between $20 and $60 and an assortment that is much larger than Walmart's new line, it's unclear how competitive Motile will be. Walmart is marketing the line as "sleek, everyday accessories that marry form and function with innovative wireless-charging capabilities to enable us to live our ambitions." That message is one that may resonate with digitally savvy, on-the-go millennials and Gen Zers.