Online Sales Up 50% for Walmart

[kritter]

www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-might-finally-be-a-better-investment-than-amazon-2017-11-16


Those six-month returns are through Nov. 15, before Wal-Mart released third-quarter results, which sent the shares up as much as 8% Thursday. Wal-Mart reported a 4.2% increase in net sales from a year earlier, with comparable sales (excluding fuel) rising 2.7% and comparable foot traffic up 1.5%. Those are impressive figures for an old brick-and-motor retailer, especially when it’s the largest one in the world, with revenue of almost half a trillion dollars last year.


Meanwhile, Wal-Mart’s online sales jumped 50% from a year earlier. And online sales accounted for 80 basis points of the company’s 2.7% increase in comparable sales. That’s a heavy effect for a business that the company had not traditionally been well-known for.

[chapeaunoir]

I read that they were breathing down Amazon's neck. Walmart has been quick on the draw for getting into online sales, though.

[kritter]

Yep, it looks like they are really stepping up their game.

Lord & Taylor is going to sell on Walmart.com.

money.cnn.com/2017/11/13/news/walmart-lord--taylor-online-partnership/index.html

[chapeaunoir]

I think eBay is just being left in the dust - it's not even mentioned, just Amazon.

Of course, if eBay upped its game in the secondary market and quit acting like we're the snotty-nosed stepchildren (and got rid of the China sellers) it would be a real power. But they're marching in the exact opposite direction of what every person who really knows business understands. And no, Wenig and co. don't know anything we don't know - they're just bot-heads.

[SA]

I don't see Chinese sellers going anywhere. eBay is a "global marketplace" and I hear that constantly.
It's up to the buyers to make smart buying decisions. Unfortunately, when you look at some of society at times........well, smart seems to go over their head.

I read the article last night and can't remember if it mentions 3rd party sellers and store pickup.

I can totally see how they've gone up 50% on their website. They now do the curbside pickup (technically a web order) and all the 3rd party vendors there! I swear when I browse the site over half of my search is 3rd party sellers and not from Walmart itself.

[labbypaws]

Walmart jacked up prices so you see 2 prices on the website. One for online and the other for instore. They are trying to get customers in their stores. An example is Nutrisystem products.

[kritter]

Of course they want people in their stores over buying online.

Once you have the customer in your store, they are more likely to buy something else as long as they are there.

I never leave Walmart with only the one thing that I went in there to buy.

Time was I didn't get a basket if I only went in for one or two things. 

Now I always get a basket.

[chapeaunoir]

I don't see Chinese sellers going anywhere. eBay is a "global marketplace" and I hear that constantly.
It's up to the buyers to make smart buying decisions. Unfortunately, when you look at some of society at times........well, smart seems to go over their head.

I've dealt with China (sourcing goods directly) for years and I understand that they are, and have been for years, in the marketplace - I'm talking about the scam IDs, replicate IDs, site violations and goods dumping - none of these make a healthy marketplace. It needs to go. Many of the China sellers that I used to deal with (bespoke goods, collectibles and antiques, traditional dress) have pulled off the site.

And yeah, 'smart' really goes go over people's heads.

[chapeaunoir]

I probably should have said they need to police the China sellers better, but I suspect that horse is out of the barn now and not coming back. And if eBay wanted to be a resale/auction market, the best in the world instead of Amazon Lite and falling behind, the replicate junk those sellers offer wouldn't fit in, but those China sellers offering authentic merchandise on the resale market would get a better foothold - they're a treasure trove of amazing antiques and vintage, but it's all "Woman fashion thin knit trench crap pants" or whatever and finding court robes and old scrolls is very difficult. That's not the way forward if eBay wants to distinguish itself.

[kat]

Nov 17, 2017 17:58:22 GMT labbypaws said:

Walmart jacked up prices so you see 2 prices on the website. One for online and the other for instore. They are trying to get customers in their stores. An example is Nutrisystem products.

A lot of times the online price is higher because it’s not being sold by Walmart, if you scroll down you’ll see it’s from a 3rd party seller.
In a Facebook group a lady asked about dress she found. I forget what the brand was now, but it was something you’d find at Nordstrom.
The annoying people (that try to act like experts, but find info as fast as possible on google) chimes in telling her what she had was a Walmart brand. Sure enough a 3rd party had listed that brand on there and it was pretty high up in google results.

[kritter]

Kat is right; I forgot about that side of the story.

If I know what the price of a product is in the store, I can find it cheaper on Walmart's website, buy it online, and then go to the store tomorrow and pick it up.

According to my store, the Walmart store does not have to match the Walmart website price. Of course, that was probably just an employee shooting from the hip and didn't know what the right answer was for sure.

[SA]

Nov 17, 2017 19:13:25 GMT kritter said:

According to my store, the Walmart store does not have to match the Walmart website price. Of course, that was probably just an employee shooting from the hip and didn't know what the right answer was for sure.

I would believe that employee.
Sears doesn't do it either.
I purchased my tires from a 3rd party seller on their site for 40% or more less than what Sears themselves were selling them for.
Exact tires. Not factory seconds. Shipped to Sears the next day.

[SA]

On topic but not really:

Target and Best Buy price match each other, along with any Amazon product that is Prime.  We saved a lot at Target last Christmas on stuff I wanted to buy anyways and just took it all to the customer service counter and they matched the Amazon prices. No fuss.

[chapeaunoir]

Nov 17, 2017 20:09:44 GMT SA said:

Nov 17, 2017 19:13:25 GMT kritter said:

According to my store, the Walmart store does not have to match the Walmart website price. Of course, that was probably just an employee shooting from the hip and didn't know what the right answer was for sure.

I would believe that employee.
Sears doesn't do it either.
I purchased my tires from a 3rd party seller on their site for 40% or more less than what Sears themselves were selling them for.
Exact tires. Not factory seconds. Shipped to Sears the next day.

I wonder if that strategy is part of getting people in store - pick up the widget, and do some extra shopping, as @kritter mentioned. Plus I'm assuming the third party seller pays for the portal.

[kritter]

I wonder if that strategy is part of getting people in store - pick up the widget, and do some extra shopping, as @kritter mentioned.

It is a strategy that definitely works.  At least it has for me.

The order pickup place is all the way in the  back of the store so to get what you ordered, you have a chance to see all the other things that you probably need.

I always grab a cart at Walmart and HEB.   Its just easier to be prepared for the inevitable instead of searching the aisles for an empty cart all the way back to the cart place.

[chapeaunoir]

I do the same thing. In Sam's Club I *never* just come out with the thing I came in to buy. That place is dangerous lol - those big danged shopping carts carry a lot. But it's also efficient shopping since I do it all in one trip.

I can see a future where on-line and B&M stores work really synergistically. In a world with shrinking resources, it also makes for more efficient logistics.

[val2525]

Nov 17, 2017 19:13:25 GMT kritter said:

According to my store, the Walmart store does not have to match the Walmart website price. Of course, that was probably just an employee shooting from the hip and didn't know what the right answer was for sure.

I think they may have been telling you the truth. I shop at Catherines and Avenue and the stores will not match the online pricing if the website indicates it's an online sale only.

[val2525]

Nov 17, 2017 18:20:24 GMT kritter said:

Of course they want people in their stores over buying online.

Once you have the customer in your store, they are more likely to buy something else as long as they are there.

I never leave Walmart with only the one thing that I went in there to buy.

Time was I didn't get a basket if I only went in for one or two things. 

Now I always get a basket.

I agree with this. Catherines has been offering free shipping to the store for online purchases for at least 12-15 years now. I mentioned it to one of the Avenue managers one day when picking up an order there and she couldn't understand with Catherines would do that. I pointed out to her that once the buyer is in the store - for any reason - half the battle is won. She's here, now you can upsell to her. A lot of buyers will do just that, too - pick up at the store, browse while the clerk is in the back looking for the item, and often try on the purchase before leaving the store. Which then leads to thinking "hey, I'm here, trying on, let's see what else I might like." Catherines even sends you a 10% off coupon good the day you pick up your item, in the delivery email. It works.

[Deleted]

I rarely go to Walmart but ended up there yesterday. I wanted some UV wrap around cheap sunglasses. Looked in Marshall's first, hoping to avoid ugly Walmart. (I like Marshalls and TJ Maxx.) Had to hike around WM, found the sunglasses and then noticed they had bleach which I've been needing. So the strategy worked and I bought the bleach too.

I don't quite "get" the ordering online and then going to the store anyway to pick it up! It's going out in ice and snow, the driving through traffic and finding a parking place, walking through the hideous store that I dislike. I'd pay a little bit extra just to avoid their ugly stores.

[chapeaunoir]

If one goes to a certain place anyway to get items, it's bundling the shopping all into one trip. I've ordered online and picked up, because I know I'll be in the area, anyway, or that I'll be needing to pick up some other things. And despite being one of those 'in and out' shoppers, if it's a place like Sam's Club, say (we don't have WM locally) I always have other stuff to get (even if I didn't realised it at the time). Also, often people may not be home to take a delivery, and if it's a large expensive thing, you don't want it sitting around on the porch or in a lobby, so it's better to pick it up.

So I think the online ordering/local pickup is an option that people choose for convenience.

[kritter]

It's going out in ice and snow, the driving through traffic and finding a parking place, walking through the hideous store that I dislike. I'd pay a little bit extra just to avoid their ugly stores.

No ice and snow here, plenty of parking spaces, and I don't think our stores are ugly.

So I think the online ordering/local pickup is an option that people choose for convenience.

The last couple of times that I have ordered from Walmart and made the $25 or whatever limit for FS, I was offered an extra amount off the bill like 10% if I picked it up at the store.  My store is like 2 miles away so not a big inconvenience to pick it up at the store.

My store now has the dedicated spaces right by the store for online order pickups but I figure as long as I am there, I need to see what is going on in the store. 

Don't want to miss out on buying something that I wasn't even aware that I needed.

[Deleted]

It must depend upon where you live and your lifestyle. I don't have a WM that near me. Our WM stores are very ugly with no ceilings and the ugly roof girders (?) show though. Big high shelving that blocks your view, no windows, etc. I guess I just don't like big box stores.

Although I don't mind Home Depot that much and that's ugly too. But you're in there for hardware and stuff like that.

I would order from WM to avoid having to go inside one of their stores if they could deliver it. Actually, when I need something I might get at WM, I tend to go to a small (still ugly, lol) place like Job Lots where I can just get in and get out. I would still like to wander around in an attractive store but WM, no.

[chapeaunoir]

A lot of people do have to battle through ice and snow to get places - we don't have ice and snow here but it's starting to flood.

Our Sam's club is kind of homely but it's Sam's Club, in what used to be a Big K-Mart. We don't have Walmart here but they have something you want online their ordering is easy and their website pretty good. They have Danskin Now.

[kritter]

I am one of those "path of least resistance" gals. I go in, get my stuff, pay for it, and leave. Just roll with the flow!

I don't care if the store has windows, what the ceilings look like, or how nice the employees/other customers are.

I am not moving in so it doesn't matter. They have the stuff that I want at a price I like so it is all good.

No great expectations so no disappointments.

[chapeaunoir]

I keep wanting to drive the forklifts around in Sam's Club. And I like to go on Saturdays because they have sample day. I've managed to cadge a whole meal just circulating around getting samples lol. Kind of a strange meal, but there ya go. Since we fill up our huge cart with bales of cat food, boxes of wine and gigantic lumps of cheese, I figure I may as well eat, too.