The Walmart Way: How the World’s Largest Company Continues to Win in Tough Times
This article was written and researched using bundleIQ. Scroll down to the bottom to learn more about the process.
Solid Sales And Increased Profits
Walmart reported strong sales throughout the third quarter, with an excellent start to the fourth quarter thanks to associates’ hard work. In the third quarter of the fiscal year 2022, Walmart’s net sales were $96.6 billion, an increase of 9.3% from the previous year. ECommerce sales grew by 87% on a two-year stack, and inventory was up 11.5%. Walmart remodeled 174 stores and launched Walmart GoLocal delivery as a service platform in 900 cities. CEO Doug McMillon noted that associates worldwide had served others throughout the pandemic with courage and resilience.
Earnings Top Expectations
Walmart’s fiscal third-quarter earnings on Tuesday topped analysts’ expectations as price-sensitive grocery shoppers flocked to its stores amid rising costs for household staples. The retailer raised its forecast for the year, saying adjusted earnings per share will be around $6.40 versus its prior expectations of between $6.20 and $6.35. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the retailer is optimistic about the holidays and will have shelves stocked.
Building The Flywheel
Walmart is continuing to make progress on its strategy, with a focus on building its flywheel. In the U.S., they are partnering with The Home Depot to provide a white-label delivery service in the U.S. This service is powered by their proprietary driver platform, Spark Driver. So far, Spark is active in 900 US cities and provides access to more than 50% of U.S.households. They are also selling advertising to help suppliers, and marketplace providers sell more while creating a new profit opportunity for Walmart. Additionally, they are working on gathering and analyzing data to fuel more innovative, faster decision-making to better serve customers, members, and suppliers.
Commitment To Sustainability
What’s more, Walmart is committed to environmental sustainability. They have recently made a goal to reduce their virgin plastic footprint by 15% by 2025. They hosted a Sustainability Milestone Meeting in October, where they announced this goal, among others. Many suppliers, NGO partners, and associates attended the meeting.
Expanding Its Services
They are building businesses such as Walmart GoLocal, Walmart Connect, Walmart Luminate, and Walmart+. Financial services is an area where they are expanding in order to make a difference in the lives of so many. They have recently launched bill payment services in their stores, as well as the ability to load money to a bank account or a prepaid card.
Sam’s Club & Walmart International
Sam’s Club continued to deliver excellent results with strong growth in sales, membership, and profit. Membership income was up more than 11%, as the company achieved another record in member counts, strong renewal rates and increased Plus member penetration. The new “don’t forget” function with Scan & Go is helping members and driving basket size simultaneously. Same-day delivery from 440 clubs using our Spark Driver network is now available.
Walmart International had another quarter of strong growth, with sales up 10.3% and profit up even higher at 17%. They ended the quarter in great shape on inventory and price gaps. Globally, they’re continuing to build out their omnichannel models across markets. In China, Sam’s Club depots help deliver eCommerce growth of 96%. In Mexico, Walmart is expanding same-day delivery and express delivery orders quickly reach customers using crowdsourcing capabilities. And in Mexico and Canada, the expansion of Omni capabilities is driven by the technology that Walmart has developed to share across markets.
Well Positioned for Tough Times
Walmart is a company that is well-prepared for challenges, both in the present and in the future. They value people, products, and pricing, clearly understand the issues facing them and take proactive steps to address them. This makes Walmart an economically viable company that is well-positioned for recessions.
How to use bundleIQ for Research and Writing
Walmart Q3 Research
- Upload Q3 earnings call transcripts
- Upload the Q3 2022 presentation
- Upload press releases and relevant articles
Walmart Q3 Writing
- Start with a thesis then perform a search like, “what makes Walmart recession proof”
- Click on AI-powered search results (see below; click pages 7, 11, 10 of the earnings presentation and transcripts)
- Summarize each of these pages and use the summaries to kick off the blog post
Get started researching and writing with our AI-powered workspace — www.bundleiq.com.
