The company also plans to add 1,000 online-grocery locations — roughly double the current number of sites, which help fill orders from customers buying their food on Walmart.com . Total sales, meanwhile, are expected to grow at or above 3 per cent, the retailer said as part of a forecast issued ahead of its shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
The upbeat guidance triggered Wal-Mart’s biggest rally in over a year, lending evidence to the view that its company-changing bet on e-commerce is beginning to pay off. Chief executive officer Doug McMillon has channelled more than one-third of the business’s capital spending budget into digital initiatives — like specialized e-commerce distribution centres — up from just 20 per cent a few years ago.