Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon says the company delivered a “great quarter”. The American retailer announced strong growth in revenue and operating income. Walmart’s global e-commerce sales grew 21% due to a 6% revenue growth.
In announcing the results, McMillion says the business is focused on saving customers time and money.
Highlights for the first quarter 2024 results:
In a historic moment for Walmart, the volume of deliveries exceeded that of store pickups.
COO John David Rainey told CNBC that the gap between the price of eating in and food from fast-food chains or restaurants is widening. Customers “appreciate the convenience” of Walmart’s offerings.
- Revenue: Walmart’s total revenue reached $161.5 billion, a 6% increase, partly due to an extra selling day.
- Gross Margin: The overall gross margin improved by 42 basis points, with Walmart U.S. leading the way.
- Operating Income: Operating income increased by $0.6 billion, or 9.6%. Adjusted operating income went up by 13.7%, driven by higher margins and membership income.
- E-commerce: Global e-commerce sales rose by 21%, mainly from store-fulfilled pickup, delivery, and marketplace services.
- Advertising: The global advertising business grew by 24%, with Walmart Connect in the U.S. growing by 26%.
- Earnings per share: Adjusted earnings per share were $0.60, excluding a net gain of $0.05 from investments and $0.02 in business reorganization charges.
- Inventory: Global inventory decreased by 2.7%, including a 4.2% drop for Walmart U.S., with healthy in-stock levels.
Innovation on delivery
Walmart is blazing a trail on the delivery front. In March, the business launched on-demand early morning delivery. The service allows customers to receive packages on their doorstep as they begin their day.
The company has also been innovating when it comes to fast delivery. It has made drone delivery available to 75% of the Dallas Fort-Worth community.
Last month, Walmart rolled out autonomous forklifts at four of its distribution centers.
Here’s how the autonomous forklift operates at Walmart DC:
Trucks arrive at the DC to be unloaded. With the use of AI-powered machine vision, the forklift unloads pallets to precision and transfers these pallets to be entered into an automated storage retrieval system where goods are categorized and stored.
ALSO READ: Walmart steps up the game by cutting e-commerce delivery costs
Photo Credit: Walmart
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About the author
Sharl is a qualified journalist. He has over 10 years’ experience in the media industry, including positions as an editor of a magazine and Business Editor of a daily newspaper. Sharl also has experience in logistics specifically operations, where he worked with global food aid organisations distributing food into Africa. Sharl enjoys writing business stories and human interest pieces.
