Wal-Mart Sales to Reach $500 Billion By 2010: Study
Wal-Mart Stores’ sales are projected to top $500 billion by 2010, accounting for 12% of U.S. retail sales (excluding cars and gas).
That’s the conclusion of Wal-Mart 2010, a study conducted by research firm Retail Forward. Wal-Mart now accounts for 8% of U.S. retail sales (sans cars and gas) with 2004 sales of over $2.4 billion. One-third of all U.S. households shop Wal-Mart each week.
Columbus, OH-based Retail Forward also projects that, on average, consumer products will get 35% of their sales through Wal-Mart, and 25% of Wal-Mart’s sales (about $125 billion) will come outside the U.S.
Retail Forward also expects Wal-Mart to grow through new retail formats, categories and countries.
“While the world waits for Wal-Mart to collapse under its own weight, Wal-Mart waits for no one, demonstrating a remarkable capacity to manage the retail lifecycle and keep right on rolling,” said Retail Forward VP Sandy Skrovan in a statement. “Wal-Mart’s strategy of innovation is not about creating incremental change. It is about creating new businesses that disrupt traditional businesses.”
Retail Forward conducted the research via its Wal-Mart World program, including data from its ShopperScape consumer survey.