Dive Brief:
- Walmart is emphasizing convenience, particularly through e-commerce options, as it grows its market share with high-income households, executives said on a Q3 2025 earnings call Tuesday.
- Households earning more than $100,000 accounted for three-quarters of the retailer’s market share gains in categories like grocery and general merchandise, according to President and CEO Doug McMillon. While price plays a role in this growth, executives also credited digital shopping options as a driver.
- “As it relates to price versus convenience, everybody wants to save money and everybody wants to save time, but it's a continuum,” McMillon said during the call. “Those that have more discretionary income and want to save time are liking what we're doing with both pickup and delivery.”
Dive Insight:
Walmart is investing in its last-mile delivery operations to improve convenience for shoppers while cutting its delivery costs.
U.S. in-store sales volumes grew in the third quarter, but curbside pickup and delivery sales volumes grew even faster, according to McMillon. Global e-commerce sales were up 27%, compared to overall sales growth of 6.1%.
Walmart still has relatively little e-commerce market share compared to its brick-and-mortar market share, but investments in digital customer experience are expected to continue to drive growth in the channel.
Sam’s Club is making convenience a priority as well. The next-generation Sam’s Cub store in Grapevine, Texas, lacks traditional checkout lanes, instead using mobile Scan & Go tools to buy items, and has 6,000 square feet dedicated to online order fulfillment.
The Grapevine store is the first of 30 next-generation club stores the company expects to open in the coming years, according to Walmart EVP and CFO John David Rainey.
Older Sam’s Club stores are being equipped with Scan & Go technology in addition to traditional checkout. The rollout of “Just Go” exit technology has reached almost all 600 stores, and member satisfaction scores with the experience are close to 90, according to Rainey.
“Great items and great prices we think aren't enough, and so you're seeing an acceleration in all of the metrics in Sam's Club because we're also leaning into experience,” Chris Nicholas, president and CEO of Sam's Club, said during the call. “And a big part of that is convenience, and we're really excited to see the impact of that.”
