Walmart grows e-commerce sales 37% in Q1 Comp

Written By Warehouse Automation

A first-quarter same-store sales increase of 6%, aided by federal stimulus payments and the continued strength of digitally enabled sales, has enabled Walmart to blow past analysts’ profit forecasts.

Walmart said that sales at its U.S. stores division increased 5% to $93.1 billion, while operating profit surged 26.8% to $5.4 billion. Traffic to stores declined 3.2%, transaction sizes increased 9.5%, and e-commerce growth, which includes digitally enabled sales fulfilled by stores, increased 37%. The company also noted that it gained market share.

“This was a strong quarter. Every segment performed well, and we’re encouraged by traffic and grocery market share trends. Our optimism is higher than it was at the beginning of the year. In the U.S., customers clearly want to get out and shop. We have a strong position as our store environment improves and e-commerce continues to grow. Stimulus in the U.S. had an impact, and the second half has more uncertainty than a typical year. We anticipate continued pent-up demand throughout 2021.”
— Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

Walmart’s adjusted earnings per share for the quarter of $1.69 blew past the prior year figure of $1.18 and analysts’ estimate of $1.22.

Walmart’s Sam’s Club division also performed well, posting a 7.2% comp increase excluding fuel, a figure that would have been much higher were it not for a 340-basis-point negative impact due to reduced tobacco sales. Total sales increased 10.1% to $16.7 billion, with the gain balanced between 2.2% growth in total transactions and 4.9% growth in transaction size. Most notably, Sam’s Club said that its membership income increased 12.7%, a figure that bodes well for future sales growth, as the division's total member count is now at an all-time high.

Warehouse Automation
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