In 2024, grocery and consumables accounted for 66 percent of the net sales of Sam's Club in the United States. Meanwhile, only three percent represented technology, office, and entertainment. That year, Sam's Club had net sales of around 86 billion U.S. dollars.

The US-based warehouse club chain Sam's Club had a flat trend in annual net sales between 2016 and 2020. However, the company's net sales was estimated to be worth 67.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, marking a significant increase compared to the previous years. Forecasts show that the net sales of Sam's Club will continuously increase in the five-year period between 2022 and 2026.

In the time period between 2017 and 2020, the US-based warehouse club chain Sam's Club experienced the largest year-over-year sales growth in 2020, when the company's sales increased by 8.7 percent compared to the previous year. Sam's Club is estimated to have a 6.8 percent growth in sales in 2021 compared to sales in 2020. Forecast suggests that the company is to increase its sales by 3.7 percent in 2026.

Year over year comparable sales of Sam’s Club grew by 2.3 percent in fiscal year 2024 when compared to the previous period. This was one of the lowest growths in the reported period. Sam’s Club, a business division of Walmart, operates globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales. What kind of retailer is Sam’s Club? Sam’s Club is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs, which operates in the United States and Puerto Rico. Warehouse clubs offer a more limited range of products than a traditional supermarket and aim to attract shoppers who wish to save money by buying in bulk. Shoppers need to have a membership and pay a fee to be able to shop in warehouse clubs like Sam’s Club. Costco is another example of a retailer operating within the warehouse club retailer model internationally. Who are the competitors of Sam’s Club? Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club are two of the most prominent warehouse club retailers in the United States. Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club feature in the ranking of leading American retailers, however both are behind Walmart who tops the listing.

In fiscal year ended January 2024, the membership fee revenue of Walmart amounted to around 3.1 billion U.S. dollars worldwide. In the two previous years, that figure amounted to 2.6 and 2.2 billion U.S. dollars respectively. Walmart's membership revenue is obtained through Sam's Club warehouses. Sam's Club brand operates two types of memberships: plus and club membership.

In the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024, Walmart's revenue amounted to approximately 648 billion U.S. dollars worldwide. Compared to a year earlier, the retailer's revenue increased by six percent. Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is one of the most well-known and valuable brands in the world. The company operates discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets globally.

Powerhouse of retail in both domestic and international markets
Walmart deals in a wide variety of products, such as groceries, apparel, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in the company’s domestic market of the United States. This segment also includes Walmart’s U.S. eCommerce website: walmart.com. The company’s Walmart International and Sam’s Club business divisions operate globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales.

How do other leading retailers compare to Walmart, in terms of sales revenue?
Walmart is far ahead of its rivals in the global fast moving consumer goods sector, with nearly double the retail sales of its closest competitors. In terms of historic sales revenue, Amazon and Costco have also witnessed the steady growth experienced by Walmart over the past number of years.

In fiscal year 2024, Walmart International registered sales of approximately 49.7 billion U.S. dollars in Mexico and Central America. Meanwhile, net sales in China amounted to around 17 billion, up from about 13.9 billion in the previous year. Walmart International had total net sales of approximately 115 billion U.S. dollars that year. Walmart Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. Company divisions The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in the company’s domestic market of the United States. The company’s Walmart International and Sam’s Club business divisions operate globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales. As of fiscal year 2024, around 18 percent of Walmart’s net sales came from the international division. This division saw its sales fluctuate during the last decade, and especially saw a significant drop when, in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company terminated its operations in the United Kingdom and Japan.

In the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024, Walmart's global net sales amounted to 642.6 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of approximately six percent in comparison to a year earlier.

Walmart Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. The company also has many international operations. Walmart is considered a variety store which focuses on low prices featuring apparel as well as hard goods, and has been committed to upholding their basic value of customer service. Beginning in the early 1990s, Walmart went to great lengths to increase their market share. They introduced a full line of groceries into their stores, diversified their market by appealing to certain ethnic groups through bilingual advertisements, and took steps to promote the awareness of environmental issues.As of 2024, Walmart operated 10,616 stores worldwide; with 4,615 of those stores located in the United States alone.

In 2024, grocery sales accounted for 59.8 percent of the net sales of Walmart U.S. in the United States. In contrast, only 12.4 percent corresponded to health and wellness. WalmartWalmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. Beginning in the early 1990s, Walmart went to great lengths to increase their market share. They introduced a full line of groceries into their stores, diversified their market by appealing to certain ethnic groups through bilingual advertisements, and took steps to promote the awareness of environmental issues. Company divisionsWalmart deals in a wide variety of products, such as groceries, apparel, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in the company’s domestic market of the United States. This segment also includes Walmart’s U.S. eCommerce website: walmart.com. In 2023, Walmart U.S. had net sales of 442 billion U.S. dollars.. The company’s Walmart International and Sam’s Club business divisions operate globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales. As of fiscal year 2024, around 13 percent of Walmart’s net sales came from Sam's Club division.

During the period from February 24 to March 1, 2020, the average transaction value across wholesale club retailers increased when compared to the period from January 1 to February 23. The average transaction value in BJ's Wholesale Clubs increased from 82 U.S. dollars to 98 U.S. dollars in that time period. These increases were likely triggered by the coronavirus pandemic which has led to increased bulk purchasing of staple goods amongst consumers.

What foods are purchased during the Coronavirus outbreak? Sales of non-perishable foods surged in the United States in March due to consumer's fear over coronavirus. Packaged goods saw the highest percentage of growth in sales out of all edible grocery items. Beverages and alcohol also had a substantial increase in sales, as did snack items such as cookie variety packs, perhaps indicating that consumers would like comfort foods and drinks to treat them through long periods of isolation at home.

What items are bulk purchased? About 28 percent of U.S. Americans have bought up large quantities of groceries, including bulk amounts of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. As such, paper products have seen a 59 percent increase in sales growth while hand sanitizer saw a sales increase of over 80 percent. Across the retail sector, staying at home in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus has resulted in increased purchases for categories such as entertainment at home and non-food child products.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Sam's Club operated 599 stores as of January 31, 2025. Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart. WalmartWalmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Walmart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. The company also has many international operations. Walmart is considered a variety store which focuses on low prices featuring apparel as well as hard goods, and has been committed to upholding their basic value of customer service.Beginning in the early 1990s, Walmart went to great lengths to increase their market share. They introduced a full line of groceries into their stores, diversified their market by appealing to certain ethnic groups through bilingual advertisements, and took steps to promote the awareness of environmental issues. As of 2024, Walmart operated close to 11,000 stores worldwide and these stores generated around 643 billion U.S. dollars in net sales.

In 2024, Walmart U.S. had eCommerce sales amounting to 65.4 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of about 22 percent in comparison to 2023's figure. WalmartWalmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. The company also has many international operations, operating through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in all 50 states in the United States, and Puerto Rico and as of 2023 counted 4,717 locations Brand and e-commerce According to a survey conducted by Statista in 2023, 93 percent of consumers were familiar with the Walmart brand and 65 percent appeared to use it for their grocery purchases. The company also operates a successful e-commerce site, which is particularly popular at the start of the holiday season and which in December 2023, reached close to 497 million visits.

Walmart had a total of 10,616 retail stores throughout the world as of January 31, 2024. Additionally, the company operated 368 distribution facilities. In total Walmart operated 10.984 stores. The decrease in stores compared to 2021 is due to the fact that in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company terminated its operations in the United Kingdom and Japan.Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is one of the most well-known and valuable brands in the world. Walmart began in the United States as a single discount store, whose model was to sell more for less. Nowadays, Walmart has discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets around the world. The multinational company has developed into the largest retailer in the world. Powerhouse of retail in both domestic and international markets Walmart deals in a wide variety of products, such as groceries, apparel, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in the company’s domestic market of the United States. This segment also includes Walmart’s U.S. eCommerce website: walmart.com. The company’s Walmart International and Sam’s Club business divisions operate globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales. As of fiscal year 2024, around 18 percent of Walmart’s net sales came from the Walmart International division.

As of January 31, 2024, Walmart had a total of 3,560 supercenter stores throughout the United States and 695 neighborhood markets. How many Walmart stores are in the United States? Walmart U.S. store number totaled 4,615 throughout the United States as of January 31, 2024. Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is one of the most well-known and valuable brands in the world. As of 2023, Walmart had a total of 10,984 properties throughout the world, of which 10,616 were retail stores. Walmart began in the United States as a single discount store, whose model was to sell more for less. Nowadays, Walmart has discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets around the world. The multinational company has developed into the largest retailer in the world. Powerhouse of retail in both domestic and international markets Walmart deals in a wide variety of products, such as groceries, apparel, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart’s strongest segment, in terms of revenue, is Walmart U.S., which operates retail stores in the company’s domestic market of the United States. This segment also includes Walmart’s U.S. eCommerce website: walmart.com. The company’s Walmart International and Sam’s Club business divisions operate globally generating revenue through retail, wholesale, membership club, and online product sales. As of 2024, around 69 percent of Walmart’s net sales came from the company’s Walmart U.S. division.

Walmart International's sales area amounted to about 273 million square feet as of January 31, 2023. Meanwhile, Walmart U.S. had 702 and Sam's Club 80 million square feet of retail sales area respectively.

As of January 31, 2023, there were a total of 601 Walmart stores in Texas in the United Sates. The southern state had nearly double the amount of stores of the following state, Florida, which totaled 386.

Walmart Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Walmart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In the United States, the company includes Walmart discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. Store count Walmart had a total of 10,623 retail stores throughout the world as of January 31, 2023. Additionally, the company operated 380 distribution facilities. In total Walmart operated 11,003 stores. The decrease in stores compared to 2021 is due to the fact that in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company terminated its operations in the United Kingdom and Japan. In the U.S. alone the company totaled 4,717 locations, of which 3,572 were supercenter stores and 781 were neighborhood markets.

In the fiscal year 2023, Walmart invested 4.4 billion U.S. dollars in advertising. A year earlier, the respective figure was 4.1 billion dollars.

Brand profile of the retail industry giant

Under the brand Walmart fall discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets, and Sam’s Club warehouse membership clubs. It operates through the business segments Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. In 2023, the multinational company's global sales amounted to nearly 643 billion U.S. dollars, with operations in retail, wholesale, and online products. In 2022, the respective figure stood at around 606 billion dollars. Moreover, the retailer's worldwide gross profit margin was 23.7 percent in 2023.

Walmart’s brand value and brand awareness

Established in 1962, Walmart has come a long way. As of 2023, the company ranked third among the highest-valued retail brands worldwide, with a brand value of nearly 60 billion dollars. To compare, the leading company, Amazon, had a brand value of roughly 175 billion dollars that year. Furthermore, Walmart's brand awareness in the United States was 93 percent as of September 2023.

The gourmet supermarket Whole Foods Market had net sales amounting to just over 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up from 15.7 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year.

Whole Foods Market Key Figures

Whole Foods Market has expanded rapidly in the last decade, growing from 275 locations in 2008 to nearly 500 locations in 2017. That was the same year in which Whole Foods was acquired by the e-commerce giant Amazon for 13.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Whole Foods Market and Consumers

Compared to larger food retailers like Walmart and Aldi, relatively few Americans have shopped at a Whole Foods Market in the past six months; only 9 percent according to a 2017 survey. When it comes to overall customer satisfaction, Whole Foods Market scored 79 points out of 100, above the U.S. average for supermarkets but below other prominent retailers such as Costco, Trader Joe’s and Sam’s Club.

The revenue of Costco, the American retailer operating warehouse club stores, has gradually risen year-on-year in Canada reaching approximately 33.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023's fiscal year. This is an increase of over 15 billion dollars since 2015.

The warehouse club business model

Warehouse clubs offer a more limited range of products than a traditional supermarket and aim to attract shoppers who wish to save money by buying in bulk. Shoppers must become a member and pay a fee to be able to shop in Costco’s warehouses. Over 127 million people worldwide were Costco members in 2023. There are different tiers of membership, all of which enable members to use any Costco warehouse worldwide and online. Other warehouse club retailers with stores in Canada include Sam’s Club and BJ’s wholesale.

Costco in Canada

The number of Costco locations has risen in line with revenue in Canada – there were 107 Costco warehouses in 2023, 19 warehouses more than in 2015. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, was home to 39 warehouses in that year, followed by Quebec with 23 stores.

Customer satisfaction with Walmart was lower than the national average for supermarkets in the United States in 2024. Walmart recorded an index score of 74, which was five index points below the average supermarket rating of 79. The index score is based on a 100-point scale. The highest-ranking supermarket in that year was the trio of H-E-B, Costco and Publix, with a score of 85 each.

Walmart origins

Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is the world’s largest retail company, with total global revenue amounting to 611 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year ended January, 2024. The first Walmart store was opened in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton in 1962. The company went public in 1970 as it continued to expand. With store growth came new store formats – the first Sam’s Club membership-only warehouse retailer opened in 1983 and the first Walmart Supercenter in 1988. The company went on to expand into Central and South America, Canada, China, South Africa and the United Kingdom. In 2023, there were over 10,000 Walmart stores worldwide.