Walmart Inc. WMT is using faster delivery to deepen convenience within its omnichannel model and give customers more reasons to choose Walmart across shopping occasions. The expansion is becoming increasingly relevant to customer engagement, with Walmart linking digital capabilities to growth, customer spend and market share gains across all operating segments.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales increased 24%, while store-fulfilled delivery sales grew approximately 43%. Expedited deliveries completed in under three hours accounted for roughly 37% of store-fulfilled orders, while average weekly customers increased more than 20%. Fast delivery in the United States rose 48% during the quarter, and sub-30-minute delivery expanded to 38 U.S. markets.
Walmart’s store network remains central to the delivery model. Stores serve as last-mile fulfillment nodes for 80% of e-commerce orders and 100% of fast deliveries. Walmart also noted that customers using fast delivery shop more frequently, deepen their engagement and are more likely to become Walmart+ members.
The delivery offering is also extending into additional food occasions. Walmart’s recent collaboration with Dunkin’ is set to launch first via 150 in-store tenant locations, with plans to expand to the majority of Dunkin’s 10,000 locations outside Walmart stores nationwide.
This expansion increases the number of occasions in which customers can use WMT for delivery, while fast-delivery users already shop more frequently and show deeper engagement. Walmart’s digital capabilities are helping drive market share gains, while faster delivery is becoming a bigger part of its omnichannel strategy.
What Do the Latest Metrics Say About Walmart?
Walmart, which competes with Costco Wholesale Corporation COST and Target Corporation TGT, has seen its shares gain 3.3% over the past year compared with the industry’s 2.2% growth. Shares of Costco have dipped 5.8%, while Target has surged 79.7% in the aforementioned period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Walmart's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio stands at 34.67, higher than the industry’s 31.73. The company is trading at a premium to Target (with a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 15.96) while trading at a discount to Costco (40.11).
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Walmart’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 5.3% and 8.7%, respectively.
Walmart currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners, but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like D-Wave Quantum, which shot up +680.1%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Walmart Inc. (WMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Target Corporation (TGT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).