Walmart's 650-Store Makeover To Highlight Growing E-Commerce Business

Walmart laid out details of its plan to upgrade hundreds of stores this year with a focus on expanding its offerings, creating more opportunities to showcase its products and improving services related to its growing online ordering segment. 

Each remodel is a multimillion-dollar project, a Walmart spokesperson told CoStar. Texas and California stores will see the most remodels, with 67 and 56, respectively.  

The plan includes improved in-store signage and displays, adding more products to its roster and updates to better meet the increasing number of online orders that are picked up in-store or delivered, CoStar reported.

Walmart reported 20% quarterly growth in e-commerce sales to end 2024, marking its 11th consecutive quarter of growth in the segment. Its sprawling network of physical stores — more than 4,600 nationwide — has allowed it to be a serious competitor to online giant Amazon, the New York Times reported in March.  

"The work we're doing to expand our assortment is another reason for our growth, as more customers are finding what they're looking for," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on an earnings call in February.

Another aspect of this remodel is the company's attempt to retain the higher-income shoppers it has gained since the pandemic, CoStar said. Those shoppers came looking for deals on necessity items like groceries, but Walmart is hoping they can be tempted into buying discretionary items at the store as well.

The company previously said that those higher-income shoppers helped it gain market share.

Walmart first announced its plan to upgrade the stores last year.