Wal-Mart Spends Heavily to Catch Up To Rival Amazon -- WSJ
November 18 2016 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
E-commerce sales rise but profit falls as retailer spends big to
compete with Amazon
By Sarah Nassauer and Joshua Jamerson
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. drew more shoppers to its U.S. stores but
the pace of visits slowed and profits fell as the retailer spends
heavily to catch up with Amazon.com Inc.
Same-store sales in the U.S. rose 1.2% for the quarter, the
ninth straight increase, and foot traffic rose 0.7%, down from the
previous quarter's rise. Meanwhile, e-commerce sales were up 21%,
boosted by the purchase of online retailer Jet.com in
September.
Wal-Mart's stock fell 4.4% to $68.24 in early trading, as the
revenue gains were less than some analysts projected and traffic
slowed slightly compared with the previous quarter. On a conference
call with reporters, executives said the strong dollar continued to
eat into overseas revenue.
Heading into the critical holiday season, Wal-Mart executives
said they are optimistic that consumer spending will stay
relatively solid, as it has in recent quarters, even in the wake of
a tense U.S. presidential election.
"I don't see big changes out there," said U.S. chief Greg Foran
on a call with reporters. "Business as usual would be my
summation."
Wal-Mart is investing heavily to fend off Amazon's play for more
retail turf. It will have added over a 1,000 online grocery pickup
locations at stores by the end of next year. It also made the
biggest ever e-commerce startup purchase when it bought Jet.com,
installing Jet founder Marc Lore as head of its e-commerce
business. E-commerce sales added 0.5% to the U.S. same-store sales
figure, the largest contribution to date, said executives. Jet.com
added six weeks of sales to the results.
Wal-Mart has also slowed the pace of new store openings, instead
investing to improve existing stores. The world's largest retailer
has raised employee's' wages, added management training programs
and trimmed inventory.
The increase in U.S. same-store sales was driven by strength in
its general merchandise and health and wellness business, while its
grocery business continued to lag amid food-price deflation.
"We view the same-store sales growth as evidence that Wal-Mart's
investment in labor, e-commerce and marketing its value message are
working. However, some investors may be disappointed that traffic
and comps decelerated slightly" from last quarter, said Buckingham
Research Group in a note. The number of shoppers heading to U.S.
stores rose 1.2% in the previous quarter.
The results from Wal-Mart come a day after rival Target Corp.
said sales in existing stores fell slightly, but it signaled sales
could return to growth over the holiday season. While department
stores and some apparel makers reported slower sales in recent
weeks, Home Depot Inc., Best Buy Co. and others said sales are
brisk ahead of the holidays. Earlier this week, October retail
sales logged their best growth rate in nearly two years.
Retailers are in a race to log as many sales as possible before
Christmas, a stretch that can make or break a retailer's financials
for the year.
Charlie O'Shea, lead retail analyst at Moody's, said Wal-Mart is
poised for strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter as the
company "leverages its store network to handle online orders,
especially via its buy-online/pick-up-in-store capability, as well
as increasing benefits from Jet.com."
Amazon currently has about 3% of total U.S. retail sales
compared with a 7% share held by Wal-Mart, according to a recent
estimate from Citi.
For this year's holiday shopping season, Wal-Mart is focused on
improving in-store pickup of online orders and working to speed
checkout times, said Mr. Foran.
"Holiday helpers," store workers wearing Santa hats and passing
out candy, will be on-hand during peak hours to open registers or
direct shoppers to the shortest checkout line. "We know that our
front end, particularly in our big trading stores can get a bit
clogged" at the register, said Mr. Foran.
Over all, Wal-Mart posted a profit of $3.03 billion, or 98 cents
a share, compared with $3.3 billion, or $1.03 a share, a year ago.
The company had projected per-share earnings in a range of 90 cents
to $1.
Revenue edged up 0.7% to $118.2 billion, below analysts'
projections for $118.69 billion.
Wal-Mart also lifted the bottom end of its full-year guidance
range for adjusted profit, now expecting $4.20 to $4.35 a share.
Previously, the low-end was pegged at $4.15.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com and Joshua
Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 18, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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