Dive Brief: Dive Insight: Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said during the call that growth in units sold, transaction counts and market share gains, including in general merchandise, are among the current key factors driving positive momentum. Additionally, McMillon said Walmart’s consistent focus on value, selection and the shopping experience are resonating with customers. “We expect to continue to earn healthy levels of sales growth and simultaneously grow profit faster than sales this year while managing our price gaps and investing in our associates at the same time,” McMillon said.
Rainey said more customers are shopping with Walmart more often and across more categories. Additionally, Rainey noted the number of U.S.
marketplace sellers grew 36% for the quarter, pushing the SKU count to over 420 million. During the quarter, marketplace sales in furniture, sporting goods, kids apparel and home grew more than 20%, Rainey said. But consumer wallets are still stretched.
Rainey said people are opting or needing to spend more on non-discretionary items and less on general merchandise. “In a tightening consumer economy, Walmart is showing very few signs of fatigue as it churns out yet another strong set of results,” Neil Saunders, GlobalData Managing Director, said in emailed comments. And higher income consumers are continuing to divert more of their consumables spending to Walmart, according to Saunders.
GlobalData found that Walmart has increased its share.
