Walmart’s sales in the current quarter won’t be as strong as they were in the previous quarter, Walmart Chief Financial Officer John Rainey reportedly said Tuesday (June 25).
Speaking at the Bank of America London Investor Conference, Rainey said the current quarter, the second quarter, is “certainly” the retailer’s most challenging quarter from a comp perspective for the year, Seeking Alpha reported Tuesday.
“Not every quarter is going to be as good as the last quarter,” Rainey said, per the report.
Walmart reported that its first-quarter comp sales, excluding fuel, were up 3.9%, according to the report.
Walmart’s first-quarter earnings were better than expected, PYMNTS reported on May 16.
The retailer’s gains in comparable-store sales were not solely attributable to inflation, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said at the time during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Inflation contributed only 40 basis points to sales growth, with mid-single-digit deflation in general merchandise and low-single-digit inflation in food and consumables.
“We are focused on what we’re doing and how we earn business with customers and members,” McMillon said during the call. “We’ve been known for price forever, but we’re increasingly known for convenience. So, whether the environment is inflationary, or deflationary, whether customers have more money or less money, if we’re doing a good job on the items and prices and the service we provide, saving them money with pickup and delivery for example, we can continue to grow share.”
Walmart announced Monday (June 24) that it is following up its just-finished summer savings event with another one slated to commence July 8 and run through July 11.
The retailer’s upcoming savings event, “Walmart Deals,” will offer discounts on school-related goods and high-cost electronics.
Coming just weeks after its Walmart+ Week, which ended Sunday (June 23), the Walmart Deals event highlights the retailer’s responsiveness to the increasing trend among consumers to concentrate their purchases around seasonal sales. It also marks Walmart’s effort to compete with Amazon’s Prime Day to capture consumers’ increased demand for seasonal sales.
The draw of Walmart and similar stores lies in their ability, afforded by their scale, to offer lower prices on essential goods, according to PYMNTS Intelligence’s “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report.”
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