Walmart's Online Sales Soar as Shoppers Stock Up on Supplies

Americans turned to Walmart’s online business as well as its stores for supplies and home goods as the virus surged in new regions, resulting in soaring sales for the fiscal second quarter.

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Walmart’s online sales nearly doubled in the fiscal second quarter, helped by an expansion of its online delivery services. Sales at U.S. locations opened at least a year jumped 9.3%, the company reported this week.

The nation’s largest retailer topped almost all expectations by wide margins and company shares, which hit an all-time high, jumped another 6% before the opening bell only to retreat into negative territory.

Consumers had already begun to rely on Walmart and other essential retailers like Target and Amazon as lifelines for necessities during the start of the pandemic, sending Walmart’s online sales up 74% for the fiscal first quarter. That trend accelerated to 97% in the second quarter and broadened the gap between traditional retailers, many of them anchor stores at the mall, and big-box operators like Walmart and Target.