Walmart increased sales more than 5% during late summer and early fall as upper-turnover households shopped more at the globe’s largest retailer and were more likely to pay for quick deliveries.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based corporation also raised its sales and approximate for the financial year annual sales, a positive sign for Walmart with the arrival of the holiday shopping period.

Consolidated turnover during the corporation’s third quarter (Aug.-Oct. 2024) totaled $169.6 billion, up 5.5% over the same three-month period a year ago.

Walmart sales in the U.S. rose 5.3%, higher than the 3.73% that analysts were expecting, according to Bloomberg. Sales at Sam’s Club locations across the U.S. were up 7% over a year ago, the corporation said.

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Walmart shares rose 3% when the economy opened. Shares are up nearly 60% so far this year.

Positive outlook for holiday period

The retailer, which serves as a bellwether for the upcoming holiday shopping period, expects continued higher sales. To that complete, Walmart increased its approximate for the packed financial year, which ends in Jan. 31, 2025, forecasting a sales boost of 4.8% to 5.1%.

With a shorter holiday period than usual – six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas – Walmart and competitors including Amazon and Target began the shopping period earlier with Black Friday events starting earlier this month.

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E-commerce sales including store-fulfilled pickup & delivery rose 22% at Walmart and 26% at Sam’s Club in the U.S., the corporation said.Households making $100,000 or more made up 75% of Walmart’s distribute gains, president and CEO Doug McMillon said during a conference calls with resource analysts on Tuesday morning. “Becoming more convenient for our customers and members is helping drive our growth,” he said.

“Everybody wants to save money and everybody wants to save period,” McMillon said. “Those who have more discretionary turnover … are liking what we are doing.”

As shoppers’ concern about worth rise grew, Walmart made an attempt to provide consumers worth, eMarketer analyst Blake Droesch told USA TODAY in a statement. “They positioned Walmart+ as a product for consumers to save money shopping both in-store and online, which has boosted membership turnover, ecommerce sales, and benefits its growing ad business,” he said. 

Contributing: Reuters.

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