Discount retail giant Walmart reported rising comparable sales bolstered by a whopping 63-percent growth in its e-commerce business. The bulk of the online sales growth was organic through Walmart.com.
"This is extraordinary growth, and we're pleased with the traction we're generating across our e-commerce offerings," said Walmart CFO Brett Biggs.
The world's largest retailer has made major investments in its e-commerce strategy as it tries to compete with Amazon, including its $3 billion acquisition last year of Jet.com.
In the first quarter alone, Walmart nixed the membership fee requirement for two-day shipping, and also rolled out pickup discounts, which offers customers reduced prices on online-only items if they opt to pick up their orders in-store.
Walmart's e-commerce site now sells more than 50 million different types of items, which is still just a fraction of Amazon's inventory but five times more that it offered just one year ago. Customer traffic at Walmart also increased at a time when other major retailers are seeing declines.
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