Walmart, Retail Dive’s 2019 Retailer of the Year, has risen above its rivals during the COVID-19 pandemic, at least so far.
Sales in the first quarter soared: total revenue was up 8.6%, or nearly $11 billion, to reach $134.6 billion, U.S. comparable sales were up 10% and U.S. e-commerce rose a whopping 74%. The retail giant has spent the last few years gobbling up e-commerce pure-plays from Jet to Modcloth (winding down the former, selling off the latter and mum about most of the others), and has told Retail Dive that was an effort to appeal to new customers. But it has been the pandemic, rather than those attempts, that seems to have attracted consumers that may not have previously thought to shop there.
