- Walmart issued a conservative outlook for the year ahead in its latest earnings report.
- However, the company shared three key numbers that highlight how the company is growing.
- The retail giant has transformed itself over the years amid competition from rivals like Amazon and Target.
If you think you know Walmart, think again.
While investors weren’t too thrilled when Walmart reported a conservative outlook during its fourth-quarter earnings this week, the company shared three key numbers that underscore just how much the company has grown in recent years.
Here’s how the retail giant is transforming itself to take on rivals like Amazon and Target.
$681 billion in annual sales
That’s the total sales last year — more than any other company in the world, including Amazon.
Perhaps more interestingly, Walmart’s full-year revenue has grown by more than $121 billion over the last four years and is greater than the $107.5 billion Target has made in revenue over the past year.
In other words, Walmart has effectively grown by more than one whole Target since the pandemic, which is no small feat, nor is it sitting still when it comes to finding new sources of revenue.
There are signs, however, that Walmart could lose its crown. Amazon, for the first time, notched a stronger fourth quarter revenue and is projected to take the lead in sales this year as it leans harder into AI and web services, CNBC reported.
30% of Walmart’s online shoppers pay to not wait
The company said nearly a third of e-commerce shoppers pay a fee to get delivery within a one- or three-hour window on items like groceries and pharmacy prescriptions.
Last year, that number was zero, since it was only introduced in March.
Walmart’s ability to achieve this ultrafast same-day service is driven largely by its fleet of more than 4,600 US stores, which are within a short drive of 93% of US households.
“If I could change anything about how we’re perceived today, it would be that more people know about our breadth of assortment online and are increasing delivery speed,” CEO Doug McMillon said on the earnings call Thursday.
4 million developer hours
Walmart said its AI-enabled coding assistants and completion tools saved developers approximately 4 million hours last year.
Again, that number was nearly zero a year ago.
It’s just one among several ways the 63-year-old retailer is morphing into a formidable 21st-century technology company, with an expanding e-commerce marketplace, growing advertising business, and an increasingly automated supply chain.
“As we become more productive and reduce the amount of time we work on routine tasks that gives us time to develop tools that help us grow the business and move faster,” McMillon said.
With Amazon nipping at its heels, the Walmart of 2025 is fast becoming much more than your grandad’s Superstore.
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