Walmart Fast Facts

Despite COVID-19 restrictions wreaking havoc across many global industries, Walmart’s first quarter earnings for the fiscal year 2021 released Tuesday showed massive gains in both store and eCommerce sales throughout much of the early COVID-19 pandemic months.

Overall, the eCommerce sales of Walmart grew by 74 percent from a year ago – an astounding surge that is likely also the reason for a steady total revenue increase of nearly 9 percent. Even more helpful could be the 10 percent increase in same-store sales for the company, a trend fueled by increased shopping patterns driven by COVID-19 anxiety. Sam’s Club also saw noticeable increases in sales from the previous year.

The company hired over 200,000 new employees over the last three months to keep supply chains healthy and meet astronomical demands.

Walmart’s eCommerce empire, which it has heavily invested in over the last five years to compete with Amazon, was just starting to pick up steam before the pandemic began. The company is also phasing out Jet.com, an eCommerce website purchased in 2016 for over $3 billion. The move gave Walmart valuable online sales strategy and talent.