Retailers are grappling with increasing costs from tariffs, but one major U.S. chain is managing to maintain low prices while boosting sales. Higher duties on imports are gradually hitting the cost of goods, yet shoppers are continuing to visit in strong numbers, especially for essential items and groceries.
The retailer has raised its full-year sales and earnings outlook, citing growth in both physical stores and online sales. E-commerce performance, including home delivery and advertising revenue, has become a major profit driver. Despite rising import costs, customer buying behavior remains largely steady, with only some discretionary products seeing shifts in purchasing.
By leveraging size, early inventory stocking, and selective discounts, the company has been able to soften the impact of tariffs while gaining market share over competitors struggling with higher import costs and declining sales. However, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey warns that it might not be forever, signaling that Walmart will keep costs low “for as long as we can.”
Walmart is America’s largest retailer and is able to offset some costs due to their size. “There are certainly areas where we have fully absorbed the impact of higher tariff costs. There are other areas where we’ve had to pass some of those costs along,” Rainey told CNBC in an interview. For small businesses, keeping costs low using the same strategy as Walmart is not as easy.
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