
Walmart’s e-Commerce Business Continued to Grow
By Sanmit AminUpdated
Walmart’s e-commerce division
Walmart (WMT) reported its first-quarter results on May 16. Walmart’s first quarter ended in April. The company’s revenues grew 1.0% YoY (year-over-year) to $123.9 billion, which missed analysts’ estimate of $125.0 billion.
While Walmart doesn’t divulge its revenue e-commerce sales, it stated that its e-commerce sales grew 37% YoY in the first quarter—a slowdown from the previous quarter. Walmart attributed its strong e-commerce growth to its flourishing online grocery business and an increase in the home and fashion categories on its e-commerce website.
Walmart’s grocery pick-up and delivery business has been booming. The pick-up and delivery business is cheaper for Walmart to operate. The company has joined hands with delivery companies like Skipcart and Point PickUp to deliver groceries to customers’ homes.
E-commerce business could slow down more
Walmart expects its online retail business to grow 35% in fiscal 2020, which could represent a slowdown compared to 40% growth in fiscal 2019. In 2018, eMarketer estimated that Walmart’s online retail business, including Sam’s Club and Jet, was the third-largest in the United States. However, Walmart’s e-commerce business is still way behind Amazon (AMZN). In 2018, Walmart’s market share in the US e-commerce business expanded from 3.3% to 4% YoY, while Amazon’s market share expanded YoY to 48% from 43.1%.