Positive Q3 comps, e-commerce momentum lifts Walmart sales ahead of holiday season

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Walmart is already realizing the benefits of its focus on a scaled e-commerce operation. Reporting third-quarter results Thursday the company noted that e-commerce has contributed 50 basis points to its comparable growth of 1.2%, which is the strongest contribution, yet.



And the company is still a week away from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Which means, Walmart, along with its recent Jet.com acquisition, is still just revving its engines.



"From a marketplace perspective, we're scaling fast - adding 8 million SKUs [online] over the past three months alone," noted Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores in his quarterly address. "It's great to see an improving e-commerce business compliment the momentum we have in our stores," he said.



"We continue to roll out online grocery and grow our pick-up business in stores and clubs," he added. "We're making progress giving our cutomers the seamless shopping experience they're looking for."



Walmart U.S. on Thursday reported total third-quarter revenue of $74.6 billion, an increase of 2.5%. Net sales at Sam's Club for the quarter totaled $14.2 billion, up 1.1%.



In addition to a Walmart U.S. comp sales increase of 1.2%, driven by a slight uptick in consumer traffic of 0.7%, Neighborhood Market same-store sales were up approximately 5.2% and Sam's Club comparable sales were up 1.4%.



"We had a solid third quarter. Our e-commerce growth accelerated, operations in the U.S. continued to strengthen and international delivered another solid performance," McMillon said. "We are pleased that we can see real progress stemming from our strategic choices and we appreciate the great work by our associates. Yet, we are not satisfied," he added. "We will continue to change and pick up speed to reach our longer term aspirations."