1 day Ago By Mataeo Smith
Walmart is sounding the alarm about a potential price increase on the horizon. The retail titan's CFO, John David Rainey, flagged up concerns about President-elect Donald Trump's broad tariff proposals , which could prompt the superstore to hike rates on certain items . "We never want to raise prices," he asserted in a conversation with CNBC.
"Our model is everyday low prices." Yet, Rainey didn't shy away from noting that "there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers." With around two-thirds of Walmart's offerings being domestic, the company has been on the hunt to beef up its roster of imported goods suppliers since Trump's previous term, as per Rainey's insights.
Walmart quietly increases price of key service - and it could cost you more money Costco raises membership fees for first time in seven years Groceries were the bread and butter of Walmart's U. S. earnings last year, raking in nearly 60%, while general merchandise accounted for just a fourth of its sales.
Rainey reminded, "We've been living under a tariff environment for seven years, so we're pretty familiar with that," However, he acknowledged, "Tariffs, though, are inflationary for customers, so we want to work with suppliers and with our own private-brand assortment to try to bring down prices." No mention of tariffs came up during Walmart's third-quarter earnings call this Tuesday. In fact, the subject hadn't popped up in an earnings discussion since 2019, under Trump's initial presidency, when Walmart declared it would make efforts to stave off passing higher food costs onto consumers by managing expenses in other areas.
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories During the Tuesday earnings call, Rainey pointed out that general merchandise products have higher markups compared to groceries, implying that the company has some flexibility in how it transfers costs to customers. DAILY NEWSLETTER: Sign up here to get the latest news and updates from the Mirror US straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter. This could be a crucial factor as the retail giant navigates competition with major players like Amazon, Target, Costco, and others.
In the past, CEO Doug McMillon has expressed a willingness to invest in e-commerce, even if it means tolerating initial losses. "We're good with that because that's what customers want," he stated, emphasizing that this approach will ultimately drive growth..
