Walmart online sales surge 60 per cent

Walmart online sales in the US soared by 60 per cent during the second quarter.

Already the nation’s third largest e-commerce player, Walmart has been acquiring pure-play online businesses to gain range and – most importantly – experience in the online space. Companies such as Jet.com (which it paid $3.3 billion for last August), men’s apparel retailer Bonobos, (which it shelled out $310 million for in June), ShoeBuy.com, ModCloth and Moosejaw.

CFO Brett Biggs told an earnings call last week that its e-commerce results include all web-initiated transactions including those through Walmart.com such as ship-to-home, ship-to-store, pick up today and online grocery, together with transactions through Jet.com and the other sites.

Gross merchandise value grew by 67 per cent year-on-year in the quarter to July 31.

“GMV represents the total US dollar volume of merchandise sold or services rendered for all transactions, including marketplace transactions, that are generally initiated through our e-commerce platforms or include our owned inventory sold on other third-party platforms,” Walmart said.

Walmart offers more than 67 million products on Walmart.com, including its own goods and third-party lines. The number of SKUs online has grown more than 30 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

CEO Doug McMillon said the majority of the growth was organic “as customers are finding a broader assortment and more options to receive what they want at their convenience”.

The acquisitions were playing their part, as well, he said.

“Our recent acquisitions, such as Moosejaw, ShoeBuy and Bonobos further improved our assortment and have provided critical category expertise in higher-margin categories like shoes and apparel.”

Meanwhile, Walmart has begun trialling an “associate delivery service” which involves staff earning extra cash during their time off by delivering online orders to shoppers’ homes.