Walmart said on Thursday it would slow the pace of new store openings to better shift its focus on building up its online muscle, improve its existing stores and invest in tech.
The discount retailer, which operates about 4,500 U.S. stores, outlined its plans to Wall Street analysts for continuing to improve its results in the coming years. Last quarter, Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales rose 1.6% (handily beating rival Target, rising for the eighth straight quarter. But it facing aggressive competitors online and offline, and Walmart has been aggressive about cutting prices to fend them off.
Yet Walmart’s $14 billion a year e-commerce business is barely one-sixth the size of Amazon.com’s, adding to the pressure on Walmart. (Last month, Walmart closed on its $3 billion buyout of fast online retailer Jet.com to beef up its e-commerce.)
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