Walmarts Online Retail

Walmart Fourth Quarter Online Sales: Key Insights

• Walmart Rising Holiday-Quarter Earnings: With quarterly total sales of US$173.4 billion in Q4 2023, Walmart increased its numbers by 5.7%, beating Wall Street's prediction of US$170.71 billion.

• Walmart eCommerce Boost: With a 23% increase in eCommerce sales, Walmart hit the US$100 billion mark in online sales in 2023.

• Acquisition of Vizio: For US$2.3 billion, Walmart acquired smart TV maker Vizio to improve its advertising business.

• Records for the U.S. Market: With quarterly eCommerce sales of $325 billion and a 17.7% share of total sales, the U.S. online retail market set new benchmarks.

The largest grocery retailer in the U.S., Walmart, ended 2023 on a high note, increasing its quarterly revenue by 5.7% to US$173.4 billion, beating Wall Street's expectations of US$170.7 billion in quarterly revenue.

A big factor in Walmart's success is the company's eCommerce sales. The companies online retail reached the US$100 billion mark - a 23% increase in global online sales for the second largest eCommerce retailer in the U.S. market.

Walmart Boosts eCommerce sales

In recent years, Walmart has been able to improve its online net sales by 31.8% per year. The biggest gain Walmart experienced was in 2020, when eCommerce sales improved from US$39.7 billion to US$64.9 billion during the first year of the pandemic. In the following years, it grew by about US$9 billion every year until it took another big leap in 2023 from US$82.1 billion to US$100 billion, as Walmart announced.

How did Walmart attract so many new customers to its online store and app?

By leveraging its value reputation as one of the leading retailers in the U.S., Walmart attracted people from all income levels. The retailer’s ad sales grew 33% globally and 22% in the U.S. market. Another factor is Walmarts third party marketplace: by packing and shipping online orders from other sellers, the company could account for significant transactions from this area.

Walmart also introduced its new subscription program called Walmart+. For US$12.95 per month, the subscription offers benefits such as gas discounts or free delivery from stores to boost their eCommerce sales.

Over a one-year period, Walmart's customer transactions increased by 4.3%, while the average ticket and the amount a customer spent decreased slightly. This could be an effect of Walmart lowering prices on many products such as dry groceries, paper goods, and cleaning supplies in response to a possible deflationary environment in the end of 2023.

Still, Walmart's eCommerce business is not yet profitable, but it is getting closer. Fulfillment costs fell 20% last year as the retailer drops more packages on each delivery route and continues to promote the service.

Acquisition of Vizio

During its quarterly earnings call, Walmart also announced that it is buying smart TV maker Vizio for US$2.3 billion. With the move, the retailer aims to further enhance its advertising business with Vizio's Smart Cast system, which allows users to stream free ad-supported content on their devices.

"We also believe it enables a profitable advertising business that scales quickly" – Seth Dallaire, EVP, Walmart U.S.

"We also believe it enables a profitable advertising business that scales quickly," said Seth Dallaire, executive vice president of Walmart U.S., in a statement. The technology will be part of Walmart Connect, the company's own advertising platform that will run on the website and in physical stores.

U.S. eCommerce Hits Sales Record

Not only can Walmart reach new eCommerce milestones, also the whole U.S. eCommerce sales represent a new record: US$325 billion in Q4 2023, representing 7.2% year-over-year growth, not seasonally adjusted.

With a 17.1% share of total retail sales, eCommerce trades reach a new record in Q4 2023. The previous high for online sales was 16.7% in Q4 2020.

It shows that the trend in the U.S. continues to grow every year after the pandemic times, where the spike of eCommerce sales where the biggest.

Fourth Quarter Online Sales: Closing Remarks

With a strong finish in Q4 2023 and an increasing focus on its online sales, Walmart will may soon end the non-profitability of its eCommerce division. The shift in the U.S. retail world is towards online retail, as the new high 17.1% of all sales in Q4 2023 came from online orders.

As Walmart continues to invest in this area with its third-party marketplace, improving ad sales with its new technology from Vizio and subscription model that offers free delivery. This underscores Walmart's investment in its eCommerce division and its expectation that it will be profitable.

Sources: Walmart 1 2, CNBC 1 2, Census Bureau.