Difficult Comps Ahead for Walmart, other Retailers

The change in market conditions brought about by sweeping COVID lockdown restrictions forced big box retailers into a scramble to expand their digital sales options, such as delivery and BOPIS.

LikeFolio mentions for these types of activities have been up across the board, but on a company-specific level, some have performed better than others…

Walmart (WMT) has been a shining example of a successful pivot into omnichannel operations. Digital mentions for the retailer experienced phenomenal growth
throughout 2020 and are still trending +80% YoY.

The WMT management team has made it clear that they’re fully committed to this strategy going forward, with the word “digital” being mentioned nearly 40 times during the 20Q4 earnings conference call.

All this to say, Walmart (and others) are approaching a critical point where YoY digital comps. will become much stiffer than last year. We’re looking forward to see who will be the winners (and losers) of this expansion game.