The CEO of Walmart has warned vendors that higher prices won’t be tolerated if the economy deteriorates.
Using remarks from Chief Executive Doug McMillon’s speech to suppliers last month, The Wall Street Journal published this.
People with knowledge of the issue claim that McMillon informed suppliers to Walmart’s Sam’s Club locations that the retailer would oppose any pricing increases.
The CEO said that the introduction of new products will encourage people to buy more.
The article claims that competitors like Target and Amazon are employing a similar tactic, with big box stores canceling orders, rejecting price rises, and asking suppliers for concessions.
On, Walmart will release its financial results for the third quarter. Walmart is “better positioned to weather the uncertainty ahead,” according to Seeking Alpha’s pre-earnings research, which also noted that its enormous network of physical shops, which is typically seen as a liability by many analysts, will be a big benefit.
As evidenced by the company’s second-quarter earnings, recent commentary claims that Walmart was “facing a stretched consumer who was reprioritizing shopping toward groceries and essentials and away from discretionary items in the face of high inflation, bulging inventories, and lots of promotional competition.”
According to studies, most consumers continue to be terrified by inflation, which alters what they buy and how they buy it and gives them the impression that price hikes and income stagnation are unlikely to end any time soon.
Rising prices continue to be the biggest economic worry, with two out of every three consumers very or extremely anxious about the outlook for the upcoming months, according to the November study “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: Inflation’s Long Consumer Spending Shadow.”
Eighty percent of consumers say that rising prices make them worry about the future, while forty-five percent say that having trouble paying their bills has dimmed their outlook.
