‘Perception Will Trail Reality’ in Boosting Walmart.com Sales Growth, CEO Says

Walmart is making progress “against several of the necessary capabilities we need to win in e-commerce, but we're still working on a few others,” CEO Doug McMillon said on a Thursday earnings call. “We need them all to come together to see stronger growth,” McMillon said. For example, “it takes time to build the assortment” at Walmart’s online store “to the point where customers realize the depth of assortment,” he said. There are now more than 10 million SKUs available in all product categories at Walmart.com, “and we're growing that number through a combination of first-party and third-party items,” he said. “It makes sense that perception will trail reality, and we will work on both during the course of this year.” In all, Walmart is pleased with its e-commerce operating system, and is “happy to have our new e-commerce fulfillment centers operational,” McMillon said. “Those are necessary building blocks. I'm excited about the ways we're using technology to deepen our relationship with customers.”