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E-Commerce Growth Helps Drive 4.4% Q1 Revenue Increase at Walmart

A 33 percent bump in e-commerce revenue helped drive overall Q1 growth at Walmart, executives said in the company’s Thursday Q1 management summary. Sales were $122.7 billion, up 4.4 percent from the year-ago quarter. It expects to grow e-commerce sales…

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by 40 percent for the year. “Slightly positive” general merchandise sales were driven by “solid comp sales growth” in home, automotive and wireless, said the company. Walmart’s online food business is driving volume and helping grow the number of omnichannel customers that shop in store and online, said CEO Doug McMillon, saying omnichannel customers “spend almost twice as much with us,” and also spend more in stores after becoming omnichannel customers. In addition to grocery pickup, Walmart has nearly 200 automated pick-up towers in stores, on the way to an expected 700 stores by year-end, he said. Walmart’s Sam’s Club business had low single-digit growth in the technology, office and entertainment category, where strong results in office and tablets offset slower sales in TVs, imaging and mobile, it said. Sam’s Club net sales dropped 2.7 percent to $13.6 billion, due to 63 store closures during the year, said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs. Sam’s Club recently announced free shipping from Samsclub.com for Plus members, driving upgrades to premium membership, said Biggs. Overall Sam’s Club e-commerce sales grew 25 percent, he said. Walmart shares closed down 1.9 percent Thursday to close at $84.35.