Walmart seduces wealthier customers

Walmart is attracting wealthier customers and is also seeing a sharp rise in advertising and e-commerce revenues. To cut costs, the market leader in the United States is closing its health centres.

“Saving time and money”

The chain’s revenue went up 6 %, while operating profit rose 9.6 %. Growth was strongest for eCommerce (+ 21 %) and advertising revenue (+ 24 %). CEO Doug McMillon is proud of the quarterly results, saying that it was earned by “saving our customers both money and time”.

The discounter is managing to attract more customers from higher income brackets. With the recent launch of its new premium home brand Bettergoods, for example, the US market leader aims to entice even more affluent shoppers. In shops, the retailer is playing up its high-end offering more strongly, with more space for trendy fashion items.

Hundreds of jobs cut

At the same time, the retail giant continues to cut costs: the company has decided to close all of its 51 health centres in the United States because they are proving unprofitable. In addition, Walmart is cutting hundreds of office jobs.

Employees are being asked to come back to offices more often instead of working from home. “We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster”, Chief People Officer Donna Morris said in a memo that USA Today quoted.