Walmart keeps growing with shoppers making more than $100,000 a year

Walmart’s business is surging. Customers making more than $100,000 a year are fueling the growth.

Walmart’s business is surging. Customers making more than $100,000 a year are fueling the growth. Walmart’s US sales at stores open for at least a year grew 5.3% last quarter compared with the year prior, the company said Tuesday. Its profit grew 8.2% last quarter. Walmart raised its financial outlook, a signal it expects a strong holiday shopping season. Walmart said it gained market share last quarter, driven “primarily from upper-income households.” Low and middle-income shoppers have traditionally formed the core of Walmart’s customer base, and they are flocking to Walmart to save money. But Walmart has also focused on expanding with people making more than $100,000 a year in recent years — historically Amazon’s main customer base. Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, has drawn higher-income customers by investing in improving its grocery business and using its scale to drive down prices. It has also sharpened its assortment of clothing, electronics, home furnishings and other goods. Walmart has built a strong online operation to rival Amazon. It has added buy online, pickup in store to thousands of its locations and Walmart+, a same-day grocery delivery membership program. Walmart’s online sales grew 22% in the United States.