Dive Brief:
- Walmart’s U.S. comparable-store sales excluding fuel rose 4.5% during the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, driven by growth in transactions and unit volumes, the retailer reported Thursday morning.
- Walmart recorded its seventh consecutive quarter of e-commerce growth above 20%, CFO John David Rainey said during a Thursday earnings call.
- As Walmart continues to focus on affordability, food items account for about half of the approximately 7,400 temporary price reductions it currently has in place, Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said during the call.
Dive Insight:
Walmart U.S.’s grocery category recorded low single-digit comps growth in Q3, led by fresh and pantry items. The company’s like-for-like grocery inflation was approximately 130 basis points during the quarter, down about 20 basis points from the prior quarter.
Along with temporary price cuts, Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal deal, which feeds 10 people for under $4 each, is part of the retailer’s efforts to promote affordability for the holiday season, Rainey said. The Butterball turkeys Walmart is selling this year will be 97 cents per pound — the lowest price since 2019 —, executives noted on the call.
While Walmart told investors earlier this year that consumers were bracing for tariffs to increase the cost of goods, the retailer’s executives told investors that those fears haven’t played out.
“We have seen less impact [from tariffs] than what we thought we would have expected early in the year,” Rainey said. “There has been some relief on some key food categories. … Really, the only price pressure that we’re seeing in food generally right now is in the beef category, which is largely a reflection of the commodity and the cyclical nature of the herd size of the U.S.”
Grocery e-commerce sales grew by double-digits as “delivery convenience resonate[s] with customers,” according to the company’s earnings presentation.
E-commerce orders fulfilled in stores increased nearly 50%, with roughly a third of those orders completed in three hours or less, a reflection of strong customer demand for speedy delivery. Those expedited deliveries increased 70% during the quarter and reached 95% of U.S. households.
Walmart opened two supercenters and two Neighborhood Markets in the U.S. and completed about 280 store remodels during the third quarter. The retailer’s Walmart+ membership program, meanwhile, recorded double-digit growth in fee income in the U.S.
