COURAGEOUS GROWER
How Walmart’s investments drive core and breakout business growth
Impact
Fearless act
Relentlessly pursuing an accelerated innovation model to drive growth.
Walmart has pursued an accelerated innovation model designed to fuel its core business, increase operational efficiency, and create next-level customer experiences. The retailing giant has made a series of investments in recent years to jumpstart its e-commerce business, including the acquisition of online retailer Jet.com and launching a tech incubator to identify opportunities to “shape the future of retail.”
To accelerate profit growth, the company is investing in AI and automation capabilities to manage online orders and inventory, and to stock shelves. Walmart is also developing higher-margin business lines such as Walmart Connect, which sells advertising space to partners on screens across its 4,700 stores. Walmart Connect grew nearly 40 percent year-over-year in the quarter ending March 2023, and the company plans to grow it further by using in-store radios and demo stations for partner ads.¹
19.8%
xTSR 2016–2021
Melissa Repko, “Walmart is bringing ads to an aisle near you as retailers chase new moneymakers,” CNBC, August 1, 2023.
¹