Wealthy shoppers really enjoy shopping online.
With grocery prices soaring, it’s no surprise that shoppers are turning to Walmart for groceries. At the same time, the budget-friendly store is attracting more middle- and upper-income shoppers.
In the three months ended July 31, about three-quarters of Walmart’s market share was in Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC, the grocery market comes from customers with household incomes of $100,000 or more a year.
What is part of the reason for this? Online Shopping. Walmart’s e-commerce business was small during the 2008 recession, but the company doesn’t offer in-store delivery, Walmart U.S. President John Furner said on a conference call with analysts and investors this week. Walmart got its start in e-commerce after acquiring Jet.com for $3.3 billion in 2016. Two years later, the company began offering delivery through Jet.com before being absorbed by the store the following year. Walmart also offers delivery through personal shopping service JetBlack, which ended in 2020. Investments in e-commerce are paying off. Walmart now accounts for 55 percent of the U.S. online grocery market, according to market research firm YipitData.
The retail giant continues to expand the way shoppers receive merchandise, such as offering Walmart InHome, which allows deliverymen to bring groceries into customers’ homes, and Walmart+ is a delivery service member. “[W]e definitely have multiple ways to serve customers today that, frankly, didn’t exist the last time we had a downturn,” Furner said.
For Wealthy Shoppers, Time Is Money
According to YipitData, July 2021, Walmart Wealthy Shopping Sales outpaced customers with incomes between $25,000 and $45,000, and the data tracks credit and debit card transactions.
High-income earners always spend the most per trip or order, but Forrester analyst Sucharita Kodali says that makes her It’s surprising how high the affluent shoppers with the highest share of sales are. YipitData noted that the data is skewed towards upper-middle-income and coastal and suburban shoppers, as banking entities that partner with the company’s data provider have a higher percentage of customers in these areas; higher-income households also have more customers than lower-income households Credit card may be used. Kodali also said Walmart has many cash-only or unbanked shoppers, which aren’t reflected in the data.
Still, the sales growth for the wealthiest shoppers comes as more and more Walmart shopping is done online, and wealthy shoppers tend to Will shop online. For wealthy shoppers, time is money, and Walmart has succeeded in making shopping more efficient.
