Did you know that the ubiquitous discount department store is the world’s largest company? Walmart is a popular shopping destination for MyPoints members looking to get good deals. Most times the discounts offered are so good, one doesn’t even need Walmart coupons to save money.
Walmart has been in the news a lot recently, so we’re dedicating this round-up to Sam Walton’s creation.
According to Forbes, a majority of shoppers prefer shopping at Walmart over Amazon. This shift in consumer sentiment has caused brands to start selling or increase their inventory on the Walmart marketplace.
In fact, Walmart’s third quarter 2019 earnings report was so good, The Motley Fool thinks competitors like Target should be worried. According to the report,
“Walmart reported a 41% increase in e-commerce sales year over year, the strongest growth in a quarter so far this year.”
While Walmart’s e-commerce sales are growing, Bloomberg reports friction between the online and brick & mortar groups.
“The two groups had been kept separate since Walmart launched its website more than two decades ago, creating internal fiefdoms and power struggles among managers who don’t see eye to eye and rarely even communicate.
Now those disparate groups are being integrated and streamlined, to fulfill Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon’s vision of transforming the big-box behemoth into a so-called omnichannel retailer. That’s industry jargon for the ability to satisfy the customer wherever and however she shops—in the store or online, in rural Bentonville or hipster Brooklyn.”
There may be a culture clash between Walmart’s online and in-store divisions, but when it comes to societal culture wars, the retailer is more likely to pick and choose its battles according to an article in The New York Times.
“Walmart is getting out of the vaping business, but still sells cigarettes. It is working to reduce plastic packaging for the products on its shelves, but continues to use plastic grocery bags in its checkout lines. After a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso this summer, the retailer said it would no longer offer certain types of ammunition, but stopped short of barring customers from carrying their guns into stores.
When navigating the nation’s culture wars, Walmart follows a strategy it has honed for years: Alienate as few customers as possible, and do no harm to its core business.”
Finally, Walmart is a popular shopping destination with nearly 265 million customers visiting its locations each week…and one deer. According to the Boston Globe, a deer wandered into a Wooster Walmart and was finally tackled by a customer. Top that, Jeff Bezos.