Walmart Inc. announced Nov. 16 that U.S. online sales grew 24% for the fiscal 2024 third quarter ended Oct. 27. Global ecommerce sales grew 15% over the same period, while international ecommerce declined 3%.

U.S. comparable sales grew 4.9%, and total revenue grew 5.2% to $160.8 billion. That’s slightly above analyst expectations of $159.7 billion, CNBC reported.

Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by web sales. It is also No. 9 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of top online marketplaces.

How much does Walmart make in online sales?

Ecommerce remained strong for Walmart in Q3. That’s been true throughout the year, with online sales up 27% year over year in Q1, and 24% in Q2. 

Globally, online sales drove $24 billion in revenue in the quarter, Walmart says. Online sales now make up 15% of total sales.

Pickup and delivery bolstered the ecommerce growth, Walmart says, similarly to Q1 and Q2 results.

“Multichannel shoppers are more valuable, engaging more often and spending more with us. Pickup and delivery for Walmart U.S. has been a key source of growth and share gains among upper-income households and has become the most productive channel for acquiring Walmart+ members,” John David Rainey, chief financial officer, said in an earnings call.

Other Walmart online sales results

Sam’s Club, Walmart’s membership-based warehouse chain, reported ecommerce sales grew 16% in the quarter. The growth was mostly driven by curbside and delivery, Walmart said. Net sales for Sam’s Club grew 2.8% to $21.9 million. Revenue from memberships grew slightly, up 1.6%.

Walmart didn’t share specific information about Walmart+, the retailer’s membership program in competition with Amazon Prime.

Meanwhile, Walmart’s online marketplace grew its number of sellers by 20%, and now more than 55% of sellers use Walmart Fulfillment Services.

At the end of the third quarter, U.S. ecommerce comprised 65.5% of total ecommerce sales, followed by 24.5% in international ecommerce and 10.0% from Sam’s Club.

Walmart relies on grocery amid challenges

Grocery sales drove Walmart’s growth during the quarter, offsetting moderate declines in general merchandise.

The grocery category has been particularly strong for Walmart in a difficult environment, driving in-store and online sales, says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail analysis firm GlobalData. 

“Walmart was up against several challenges this quarter: a slowing consumer economy, a moderation in inflation, and tough prior year comparatives. It has comfortably cleared all these hurdles to produce another very strong set of results,” Saunders says. 

Walmart executives spoke in previous quarters about grocery attracting new customers to the retailer.

“Walmart has made very serious inroads on the online grocery front and has built a strong reputation for reliability. It is also making progress in online general merchandise thanks to its expanded marketplace,” Saunders says.

Moderating grocery prices could give Walmart customers room in their budgets to make more general merchandise purchases, Rainey said in an earnings call. Prices are falling on dairy, eggs, chicken, and some general merchandise items, Walmart says.

Walmart plans for the holidays

Sales softened at the end of October compared to the rest of the quarter, Rainey told investors, though they picked up as seasonal sales started.

“Sales have been somewhat uneven, and this gives us reason to think slightly more cautiously about the consumer versus 90 days ago,” he said. 

Walmart is “really pleased” with early results from holiday sales, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. John Furner said. He pointed to successes of home and apparel categories on Walmart’s marketplace for gifting.

However, Halloween growth was slightly muted below what the retailer expected, Furner said.

“We’re just cautious of a shift that we did see,” Furner said. “But overall, seeing the number of customers who shop continue to grow, we’ve seen new customers all year across a wide variety of income groups. We’ll be ready for all of those customers, and we’ll be ready for anything that they need at the time.”

Walmart didn’t announce a big hiring initiative for they holidays this year, it said, but most stores and distribution centers are fully staffed.

Walmart earnings

For the third quarter ended Oct. 27, 2023, Walmart reported:

• Total revenue grew 5.2% to $160.8 billion.
• Walmart U.S. ecommerce sales grew 24%.
• Consolidated net income reached $453 million, compared to a loss of $1.8 billion in Q3 last year.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2024 ended Oct. 27, Walmart reported:

• Revenue grew 6.1% to $474.7 billion.
• Consolidated net income grew 85.3% to $5.4 billion.

Check back for more earnings reports. See Walmart’s previous earnings release story here. 

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