Delivery & Ads Growth Power Huge Walmart Q2
The Courier podcast launches, respect for iFood couriers, egrocery sales up
You’re so close to the weekend! Kick back, place your grocery order and dive in to our brand new podcast: that should get you about an hour closer to quittin’ time… Plus, we’ve got big financial news from Walmart, encouraging grocery delivery stats and an important new campaign out of Brazil.
This week’s edition is brought to you by Yoshi Mobility.
Today:
Introducing “The Courier” Podcast
Walmart Delivers Big Q2
Chart Time | eGrocery Sales Simmer
iFood Asks Brazilians to Respects Its Couriers
PODCAST | Episode One of “The Courier” Now Live
We’re pleased to introduce our brand new podcast — The Courier — where Jonah Bliss and Greg Lindsay will discuss the most interesting, spiciest news of the week, followed by a chat with a mover and shaker from the world of delivery and mobility. In the inaugural episode, they chat with Gary Chaglasyan, Founder of RestoGPT and PizzaBox AI, about how a new subscription model, unlocking all you can eat pizzas for a year, gives restaurateurs a powerful new tool to lock in capital and customers.
The Big Picture: Think of this as an inaugural episode, be sure to like and subscribe to get each update when the full season kicks off in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, please send in any comments, questions, or suggestions for guests to interview.
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FINANCE | Walmart Revenue Climbs 4.8%
Q2 earnings season is coming to a close, but we’re finishing things up with a big boy: Walmart just posted a very healthy quarter. Revenue grew 4.8% YoY to $169.34 billion, beating the $168.46B expected. Domestic same store sales were up 4.3% overall, with Sam’s Club slightly outgrowing Walmart proper; international business picked up as well. Adjusted operating income grew 7.2% to a whopping $7.9 billion. Walmart sees the rest of the year staying just as rosy, with Q3 sales growth projected to be 3.25% to 4.25% and the full fiscal year’s guidance nudged upward.
The Big Picture: WMT’s digital business is firing on all cylinders, starting with its global ad biz, which grew 26% (30% domestically.) Its U.S. division saw a ~50% increase in store-fulfilled delivery, 32% growth in marketplace and net delivery cost per order decreased nearly 40%. Internationally, ecommerce sales rose 18%, led by store-fulfilled pickup and delivery and marketplace. "Each part of the business is growing," said CEO Doug McMillon. "Store and club sales are up, eCommerce is compounding as we layer pickup and even faster growth in delivery as our speed improves."
CHART TIME | Online Grocery Sales Continue to Grow
Wow, if you thought June was good for egrocery sales, check out July. Delivery surged an impressive 23% YoY, driven in part by heavy promotional activity by Instacart and Walmart+, somewhat at the expense of regional grocers. Ship-to-home (meal kits) are also finally showing some renewed signs of life, after a weak few years. Monthly active users for delivery grew 10% YoY as well.
EDUCATION | Brazil’s iFood Asks for a Little Respect
Brazilian 3PD iFood just launched a new ad campaign: Fechado Com O Respeito, meaning roughly: closed (or sealed) with respect. The ads are aimed at consumers, reminding them to:
Go down to pick up the order (and speed up the delivery people's work)
Don't keep the delivery man or woman waiting
Always provide your delivery code
Say good morning, good afternoon and good night – and say “thank you”
Appreciate good work with a tip and a thumbs up on the app
The Big Picture: As always, this campaign boils down to treating couriers like fellow humans worthy of common decency, and not pretending food delivery comes just from some bloodless machine. Maltreatment of couriers is rife in Brazil, where deep divisions between races and classes means gig workers are often victims of discrimination, threats, aggression and even sexual violence. In 2023, iFood created a Psychological and Legal Support Center to combat the issue, following an earlier investment in the My High School Diploma, which offers scholarships to couriers to take the Brazilian equivalent of a GED.
A Few Good Links
DroneUp hits 500 deliveries per day. Japan’s Pepper Lunch expands across SoCal. Uniqlo begins instant delivery in China. Gopuff expands 24 hour delivery network to more British cities. Getir faces lawsuit over unpaid rent in NYC. Friction points slowing digital grocery growth. Canadian Asian grocer T&T expands to California. Albertsons-Kroger increases price cut pledge in face of merger resistance. Rivian pauses production of Amazon’s electric delivery vans. CA driver’s licenses headed to Apple and Google wallets. Jumia completes secondary sale. Instanbul showcases new micromobility parking solution. Curbit and Microsoft debut new restaurant capacity management tool. ShipBob opens Section 321 fulfillment centers. Cargojet revenue up 11.5%. Amazon, Walmart and ecommerce competitors capture 37% of back to school sales. Hiring outlook stays robust. Flynn buys 83 more Wendy’s. Analyzing CA’s fast food wage increase. Bonchon speeds up growth. The benefits of restaurant loyalty programs. NBCU and Instacart tout Olympics’ virtual concession stand. DoorDash highlights fall flavors.
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