Walmart cut costs with new bags and receipts

American department store chain Walmart cut 27 million dollars (23 million euro) in costs, thanks to several minor changes in its plastic bag and receipt approach. 

Fewer new stores

Thanks to the changes in plastic bags, Walmart cut twenty million dollars in costs, while shorter receipts generated another seven million dollars. Both moves are part of a cost-cutting plan, allowing Walmart to keep investing a lot in its eCommerce strategy and an improved store network.

That said, the company will not open as many stores as it used to in the United States. In 2019, the number of new stores will be at its lowest point in 25 years. Instead, it will remodel its current store network. In 2017, it will have opened 111 stores, but it will only open 55 new stores next year. Another 50 % cut is planned for 2019. Looking back at 2015 and 2016, it opened more than 500 new stores in those two years combined.

Its eCommerce-related costs and investments are still very high, but Walmart still expects those to lower in the next few years. The main reason is that its largest investments have already been done. It was forced to do so in order to compete with Amazon, a competitor that slowly but surely grabbed a sizeable share of the market. Considering it also recently acquired Whole Foods, the competition has become even more fierce.