Walmart’s e-commerce grows but declines from previous quarter

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart’s e-commerce business grew 23 percent in the fourth quarter, but that was down from 50 percent in the third quarter.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon seemed to shrug off the decline in a call with investors, according to Seeking Alpha.

“The majority of this slowdown was expected as we fully lapped the Jet acquisition, as well as created a healthier long-term foundation for holiday,” he said. “A smaller portion of the slowdown was unexpected as we experienced some operational challenges that negatively impacted growth.”

Overall, McMillon noted that Walmart finished the year with e-commerce sales growth of more than 40 percent.

“Looking ahead, we expect e-commerce growth to increase from the fourth-quarter level as we enter the new year with about 40 percent growth for the year,” he added.

Walmart said total revenue for the fourth quarter was up $5.3 billion, or 4.1 percent, to $136.3 billion (excluding currency, total revenue rose $4.1 billion, or 3.1 percent, to $135.1 billion). Walmart Inc. posted a U.S. comparable-store sales increase of 2.6 percent and a 1.6 percent comp traffic gain. On a two-year stack, 4.4 percent comp sales growth marked the mega-retailer’s best performance in eight years.

Total revenue for 2017 was $500.3 billion, an increase of $14.5 billion, or 3.0 percent. Excluding currency, total revenue was $500.9 billion, an increase of $15.1 billion, or 3.1 percent.