Walmart Inc. announced May 17 that U.S. online sales grew 22% for its fiscal 2025 first quarter ended April 30, 2024. Global ecommerce sales grew 21% over the same period, while international ecommerce increased 19%.

The retailer’s ecommerce penetration grew across all markets, CEO Doug McMillon said. That was partially due to growth among high-income customers, who turned to Walmart for convenience in the quarter.

Consolidated revenue grew 6.0% to $161.5 billion in Q1. Meanwhile, consolidated net income rose 179.9% to $5.31 billion.

“Our team delivered a great quarter,” McMillon said in a statement. “Around the world, our goal is simple — we’re focused on saving our customers both money and time. It’s inspiring to see how our associates are simultaneously executing the fundamentals and innovating to make shopping with us more enjoyable and convenient.”

Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by web sales. It is also No. 9 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of top such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

How much did Walmart make in Q1 online sales?

Ecommerce remained a source of high growth for Walmart in Q1 2025. The 22% year-over-year growth in the U.S. came on top of a 27% increase in Q1 of fiscal 2024.

Walmart said its pickup and delivery service was once again a significant driver of that ecommerce growth.

“It’s great to be in a position where our pickup business is growing and then, as we mentioned, our delivery business has now exceeded our pickup business in size and the run rate remains strong,” Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner told investors on May 16.

The mass merchant’s growing online business also represents an opportunity with more room to expand.

“While Walmart’s online business is still dominated by grocery — which is a key strength compared to Amazon — it is now gaining ground in categories like home and sporting goods, which underlines the fact it is becoming more of a destination for non-grocery shopping,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail analysis firm GlobalData. “In our view, Walmart has significant runway to expand this part of its business, especially as memberships of its Walmart+ program continue to increase.”

Meanwhile, Walmart’s ecommerce losses are decreasing.

“Ecommerce losses continue to narrow, most notably in the U.S. net delivery cost per order, improving nearly 40%,” chief financial officer John David Rainey said.

Sam’s Club and other Walmart online sales results

Sam’s Club, Walmart’s membership-based warehouse chain, reported ecommerce sales grew 18% in the quarter. Like Walmart, that growth was attributed to pickup and delivery sales. 

Sam Club’s net sales, meanwhile, grew 4.6% due to increases in transactions and unit volumes. Membership income grew 13%, thanks to “record total membership and Plus penetration at quarter end,” the retailer said.

“Walmart Plus continued to grow double-digits as members engage with us more frequently and spend more than other customers,” Rainey added.

54% of Sam’s Club members are also Walmart Plus members, the retailer said. One-third of Sam’s Club members are also using Walmart’s Scan and Go technology.

Walmart’s third-party online marketplace also grew significantly in the quarter, it said. Sales in the furniture, sporting goods, children’s apparel and home goods categories each grew more than 20%. Furner noted that all apparel categories are strong on the marketplace.

In the U.S., Walmart’s marketplace grew its seller count by 36% during the quarter. 28% of sellers also use Walmart’s fulfillment service, it said.

“We’ve picked up momentum in the marketplace,” Furner said. “Really, really pleased to see a number — a really large number — of new sellers come on board, and assortment’s well north of $400 million.”

Walmart Connect keeps growing

The company’s advertising arm grew 24% year over year, led by 26% growth from U.S. advertising side, Walmart Connect. U.S. ad sales from marketplace sellers grew more than 50%, it said. Overall advertiser count also grew nearly 19%. Sam’s Club’s ad business also grew, with a 30% increase in active advertisers.

In April, Walmart shared plans for growing Walmart Connect following its proposal to acquire Vizio. Walmart detailed plans to create more advertising options, expand them beyond Walmart.com, give advertisers better targeting and measuring abilities, and give them more creative tools.

Walmart appeals to higher-income consumers

The retailer attributed much of its growth in Q1 to higher-income consumers in the U.S.

Walmart breaks its customers into three tiers based on income, Rainey said:

• Below $50,000
• $50,000 to $100,000
• Above $100,000

Typically, about one-third of customers fall into each category. However, an emphasis on convenience rather than strictly value has brought in more customers from that high-earning tier, he explained. In addition, Rainey attributed growth in delivery among that cohort to their preference for convenience.

“Convenience matters to someone irrespective of what your payback is, irrespective of what your income level is,” Rainey said. “And we expect that to be durable. We don’t expect that to change.”

Walmart also invested in improving food quality to appeal to that customer segment, Furner said. He pointed to higher quality in the fruit and meat departments. 

Walmart layoffs

Ahead of reporting financial results, Walmart announced it would cut hundreds of corporate jobs and ask remote workers to move to one of three offices. Workers at Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto locations were also asked to relocate. Most workers will move to Walmart’s Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters, while some will go to the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey.

“Earlier this week, we also shared decisions to eliminate some home office roles and reduce the amount of remote work,” McMillon told investors. “The vast majority of our home office associates have been back together in offices since we came back from the pandemic, and we want to see even more of that. Being in person is important.”

Walmart earnings

For its fiscal first quarter ended Apr. 30, Walmart reported:

• Consolidated revenue grew 6.0% to $161.5 billion.
• Walmart online sales in the U.S. grew 22% in Q1 FY25.
• Consolidated net income grew 179.9% to 5.31 billion.

Check back for more earnings reports. See Walmart’s previous earnings release story here.

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