Walmart
American big-box chain, the world’s largest company by revenue and the biggest grocery seller in the United States.
8 figures on Walmart, drawn from 2 Modern MBA case studies.
The figures
US dollars2
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual revenue in billions, 2023–24 | $648B | 1st of 9 · top $648B | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
| Average annual sales per store, 2021 | $78M | 1st of 3 · top $78M | How Dollar Tree makes money selling everything for a dollar |
Percentages6
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of merchandise as a share of revenue, ten-year average | 75% | 3rd of 10 · top 87% | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
| Cost of merchandise against labor and rent, as a share of revenue, ten-year average · Cost of merchandise | 75% | 3rd of 7 · top 87% | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
| Gross margins of technology companies against retailers, 2019 | 25% | 8th of 10 · top 82% | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
| Annual gross margin, 2021 | 24% | 3rd of 3 · top 30.5% | How Dollar Tree makes money selling everything for a dollar |
| Cost of merchandise against labor and rent, as a share of revenue, ten-year average · Labor & rent | 20% | 3rd of 7 · top 26% | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
| Average operating margin over the last decade | 4.5% | 5th of 8 · top 8.9% | Why self-checkout didn't replace cashiers |
Case studies covering Walmart
Case study — Retail & brandsWhy self-checkout didn't replace cashiersAmazon's cashierless store was a thousand people in India watching cameras. Every retailer copied it anyway.15 min read
Case study — Retail & brandsHow Dollar Tree makes money selling everything for a dollarA fifteenth the size of a Walmart, a better gross margin than either giant, and 700 new stores while Target opened 58.10 min readNew episodes
Don’t let an algorithm decide what you get to see.
Get an email the moment a new episode drops, with commentary that never made the final cut.