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☆ Walmart will stop providing single-use plastic and paper bags in New York and Colorado in January, accelerating its sustainability push – but creating a new task for customers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The single-use bag policy will go into effect on New Year's Day in Colorado and Jan. 18 in New York. In the states in which Walmart has or will be eliminating single-use bags, legislatures have already passed laws that ban single-use plastic bags and require retailers to charge a fee for, or outright ban, single-use paper bags. It's unclear if that includes eliminating single-use plastic bags at all stores. A Walmart spokesperson did not respond to questions on that goal and if Walmart would ban single-use bags in any other states in 2023. Do you live in Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, Colorado, or New York and have thoughts on Walmart's ban of single-use bags?

☆ 4 hurdles Walmart needs to clear in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Analysts expect the retailer to work through excess inventory in 2023, but obstacles may arise. Here are four major Walmart challenges to watch in 2023. Expanding clinic presence is a 'must' to create major healthcare gainsA Walmart Health clinic. In 2022, Walmart saw competitors like Amazon make major healthcare splashes. Part of expansion has been announced for 2023, as Walmart plans to launch 16 more clinics in Florida by the end of the year.

☆ Target recalls more than 200,000 weighted blankets for kids after 2 children suffocate under it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Target and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission are urging customers not to use the blankets. Target has received four reports of kids becoming entrapped under these blankets, including the two deaths, the commission said. The commission and Target are urging customers to stop using the recalled blankets and to contact Target for a refund. "In cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the product manufacturer, we are also initiating a full product recall and are in the process of alerting consumers." This isn't the first product Target has stopped selling this year due to the danger posed to children.

☆ Meet M-TAC, the maker of Zelenskyy's casual sweaters and t-shirts that started out selling airsoft guns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

M-TAC launched in 2005 selling airsoft guns and accessories and started a clothing brand in 2014. An M-TAC manager previously told Insider that Zelenskyy's olive green fleece was out of stock. Per the company's website, M-TAC has more than 50 suppliers in 15 countries of the world. Since Russia first invaded Ukraine, M-TAC has seen demand soar for Zelenskyy's fleece jacket, Taras Rudnytskyi, the Ukrainian manager of US operations for the company, previously told Insider. "We hope to restock it someday, maybe after our victory," Rudnytskyi told Insider in May, adding that hostilities have made it difficult to continue any type of production.

☆ Organized retail crime has ballooned into a $100 billion problem — and store employees are dying over it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Organized retail crime increased by 26.5% in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation. It's organized retail crime, and it's a nearly $100 billion problem for the industry. A 2022 study the National Retail Federation conducted found that organized retail crime at retailers surged by 26.5% in 2021 compared to the year prior. Organized retail crime is not the $10,000 jewelry heist you see in the movies, Jake Stauch, the director of product for the security company Verkada, said. The rise of e-commerce has, in large part, fueled organized retail crime.

☆ The CEOs of Walmart and Target are warning of surging theft. Here's how a CVS exec said thieves steal $2,000 from stores in just 2 minutes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Hannah Towey | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CVS Health's director of organized retail crime investigations testified to Congress in 2021 about the topic. According to the National Retail Federation, organized retail crime incidents jumped 26.5% on average in 2021. In congressional testimony, he said organized retail crime-related events are reported in a CVS Pharmacy store every three minutes. He had personally investigated organized retail crime for over 30 years. "Let me just be clear about what organized retail crime is not.

☆ Walmart shoppers are flocking to stores for cheap groceries, while website visits languish — proving how vital its stores are in a tough economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ben Tobin | Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But while online shopping has dipped this year, more people have been flocking back to Walmart stores. According to estimates from Placer.ai, a location-data company, Walmart stores saw a 1% increase in the average number of daily shoppers through December 4 compared to the same year prior. But those customers are typically not buying food online, according to Yarbrough. Online food sales slowing across retailersWalmart is the top US grocer. The membership platform that launched in 2020 incentivizes online shopping by offering free delivery.

☆ Walmart shoppers can now order products via text message, two years after a similar text-to-shop experiment failed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walmart hopes to streamline shopping by allowing customers to text items they'd like to purchase. That feature, Walmart Text to Shop, is coming online roughly two years after Walmart shut down a limited text-to-shop experiment. Launched as a beta test in October 2021 to select markets, Walmart Text to Shop "is seamlessly connected" to users' Walmart accounts, Dominique Essig, vice president of conversational commerce for Store No. Eckert told Insider last month that Walmart is looking to "rapidly sign up customers" for text-to-shop. In 2018, the company rolled out Jet Black, a $50-per-month service where customers could access personal shoppers through text message.

☆ Walmart rolled out self-checkout to streamline operations and reduce labor needs — but employees and customers say it's causing a surge in theft
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said stores could close if the rising tide of theft wasn't stemmed. Customers and employees blame self-checkout, which Walmart has increasingly relied on, for theft. Since McMillon made those comments, more than 100 Walmart customers and former and current employees have reached out to an Insider reporter to say the retailer must rely less on self-checkout. "They need to hire cashiers again and do away with so many self-checkout," Mindy Stanley, a Walmart customer from Ashland, Kentucky, said. Polly Kearns, a Walmart shopper from Gulfport, Mississippi, said the best way to protect against theft and make customers happy was to eliminate self-checkouts.

☆ Walmart is pursuing its own buy now, pay later loans, report says – one year after shoppers accused the retailer of 'killing Christmas' by canceling layaway
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fintech-backed venture One is going to offer buy now, pay later loans to Walmart customers as soon as next year, according to The InformationThe move comes as buy now, pay later loans have become increasingly popular with younger crowds. It will offer its own buy now, pay later loans to Walmart customers as soon as next year, according to The Information, which spoke with three people familiar with the matter. The latest development comes as other major retailers, like Apple, are planning to roll out their own buy now, pay later services. Walmart may soon reap the benefits of rolling out this new service through its fintech-backed venture. Retailers are already seeing an increase in shoppers turning to buy now, pay later: BNPL orders jumped 85% during Cyber Week, or the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, compared with the week prior, according to data from Adobe.

☆ The wild success of Walmart's generic cream cheese perfectly encapsulates the problems with the American economy right now
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Alex Bitter | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Walmart's cream cheese was one of the fastest-growing brands of 2022, according to Morning Consult. It was cream cheese from Walmart. Store-brand cream cheese isn't a typical contender for most popular product, said Emily Moquin, food and beverage analyst at Morning Consult. Philadelphia is the market leader in cream cheese, Morning Consult's Moquin said. "That is partially why we see this very specific category of cream cheese being on the list."

☆ Costco plans to open 24 stores this year, including 15 throughout the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Fifteen of those stores will open in the US, while 9 will open internationally. said there will be 27 openings, including three 'relocations.' In total, there will be 27 new stores openings, including three "relocations" for stores. Nine of those 24 net stores will open internationally, including Costco's third and fourth locations in China, Galanti said. "We plan three more in (the second quarter), four in (the third quarter) and 10 (in the fourth quarter)," Galanti said.

☆ Walmart CEO says inflation on toys and clothing is letting up. This could help the retailer put a dent in its excess inventory.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

That could help Walmart work down its stockpile of discretionary goods, as inflation has tightened wallets. "In toys, sporting goods, apparel, categories like that, prices have come down more aggressively," McMillon told CNBC on Tuesday. The softening inflation in non-essential categories comes as Walmart has been trying to clean out its inventory heading into 2023. Walmart finished the first quarter of 2022 with a 32% year-over-year increase in inventory due to inflation and supply-chain issues. In earnings calls throughout the year, McMillon, Walmart US President and CEO John Furner, and others in leadership have all said that the category is contributing to excess inventory.

☆ Walmart CEO: 'Stores will close' if theft at retailer doesn't slow down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Doug McMillon told CNBC that theft is 'higher than what it has historically been' at storesHe said that along with stores closing if theft doesn't slow down, prices could be higher. Reuters previously reported that Walmart loses roughly $3 billion in theft each year. He added: "If that's not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close." McMillon said the key to reducing theft is Walmart working with local law enforcement agencies and ensuring that those agencies are fully staffed. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant is not the only retailer that has recently sounded the alarm on theft.

☆ Walmart's active-shooter training is so old and 'inadequate' that it has become a meme, some workers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Walmart's active-shooter training has been around in some form for at least a decade, employees say. Some workers say Walmart needs to do more on top of the training to address workers' mental health. Three current and former employees of the retail giant told Insider the active-shooter training wasn't enough to keep them safe. Walmart employees told Insider they're worried about whether the quarterly active-shooter training had prepared them for violence in stores. The lawsuit also said the shooter "repeatedly asked coworkers if they had received their active shooter training."

☆ Walmart saw a big dip in customers shopping at its stores on Black Friday this year, study finds. Instead, they may have been flocking to the retailer's website.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Walmart saw an estimated 5.3% decline year-over-year for in-store traffic, according to Placer.ai. Nonetheless, Walmart got more search traffic than its rivals from people looking online for Black Friday deals. Walmart saw a 5.3% dip in physical store traffic this Black Friday compared to last, according to estimates from Placer.ai, a location data company. Walmart saw searches for Black Friday discounts spike by 386% year-over-year, per the company. "But I would say overall the high-level reports I've seen have been positive for Walmart on Black Friday across (product) categories."

☆ Walmart fired Black hourly employees twice as often as their white coworkers at the pandemic's start, congressional report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Congressional report finds Walmart laid off double the amount of Black workers during the pandemic. As of July 29 this year, Black workers comprised roughly 21% of Walmart's 1.6 million US workforce. "Walmart had some of the largest racial inequities of the surveyed companies when it came to employment outcomes," the report says. As of July 29 this year, Black workers comprised roughly 21% of Walmart's 1.6 million US workforce, according to the Walmart's culture, equity, diversity, and inclusion 2022 mid-year report. The congressional report found that while Black salaried workers were promoted at a higher rate than white salaried workers (36.2% to 28.0%), Black hourly workers were promoted at a lower rate than white hourly workers (8.7% to 11.1%).

☆ Walmart just lost its top health official. It's a blow as the retailer tries to compete with Amazon and win a bigger slice of the healthcare industry.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dr. Cheryl Pegus joined Walmart as executive vice president for health and wellness in December 2020. Her departure comes as Walmart has faced challenges rolling out health clinics nationwide. Walmart Health and WellnessThe move is a major blow as Walmart competes with the likes of Amazon, CVS and Walgreens to win a bigger slice of the lucrative $4.3 trillion health care industry. What's next for Walmart HealthThough Walmart Health will no longer operate with its leader of about two years, company executives are still optimistic about the performance of the business segment. Marcus Osborne, the previous head of Walmart Health Clinics, announced he left the company at the start of the year.

☆ Leaked memo: Here's how Walmart is enticing its 1.6 million employees to sign up for its newly acquired online bank
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Ben Tobin | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But some Walmart employees are skeptical. A Walmart employee from Michigan who wished to remain anonymous asked, "What does Walmart get out of this?" The memo sent from One to Walmart employees specified that users aren't required to have a One account to get their paychecks from Walmart. The rollout of One to Walmart employees comes as current users of the neobank have expressed frustration that features they liked have disappeared in the wake of the acquisition. Many said they received little or no communication about changes to their accounts and described fears of being left behind as One execs turned their attention to Walmart employees and customers.

☆ Walmart's PAC has quietly donated nearly $1 million to campaigns ahead of the midterms. While the company has a ''don't rock the boat strategy,' it contributed to 41 election deniers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Ben Tobin | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

WALPAC donated almost 50-50 to Democratic and Republican federal candidates for the midterms. Walmart's PAC donated to 41 candidates who denied the 2020 presidential election results, ProPublica found. Of that, about 53% went to Republican candidates, and 47% went to Democrats. Some members of Congress, particularly among Democrats, also reject any corporate PAC contribution — WALPAC or otherwise — as a matter of practice. However, the company did donate a significant amount of money to candidates who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results.

☆ A Walmart-backed fintech has been making changes to an online bank it acquired. Long-standing customers are getting fed up.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Carter Johnson | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

But once the Walmart-backed fintech venture Hazel acquired One and adopted its moniker in January, some of the features that drew Gastley to the bank disappeared. The page has become, in some cases, the first place customers turn to for information about product changes. (Like most neobanks, One has partnered with a sponsor bank, the Washington-based Coastal Community Bank, to provide financial services.) But then One customers received an email from the bank on May 12: It would be closing current credit lines, effective immediately. That's not the only change to Pockets for which Joseph, who has dozens of the virtual bank accounts, didn't receive a notification about, he said.

☆ Walmart-backed One has made a splash with high-profile hires and big potential, but customers of the old regime feel left behind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The ones left behindHaving your bank acquired by the nation's largest retailer might seem like an exciting opportunity. Read our full deep-dive into how One customers feel frustrated by changes made to their bank in the wake of its acquisition. In other news:Diddy, Heidi Klum, and Mindy Kaling are just a few of the many celebrities that celebrate Halloween with statement looks. Diddy/Instagram; Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum; Mindy Kaling/Instagram2. Credit to Heidi Klum for going all in.

☆ The founder of a baby-services startup that just launched in Walmart shares her tips for working with the retail giant
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tot Squad began selling services at Walmart stores nationwide and on Walmart.com in February. After being "relentless" and pitching to many different people at the company, Tot Squad finally signed a contract with Walmart in August 2019, Saxton said. It wouldn't be until February 2022 that Tot Squad would officially launch in Walmart. Customers choose between video consultation or personal installation by a Tot Squad expert technician for an extra $40 or $80, respectively. For example, she said Angi — formerly known as Angie's List — is the home-services partner for Walmart, and Tot Squad is the retail giant's baby-services provider.

☆ This PayPal-backed startup is solving one of the biggest headaches for brands selling online through Walmart, Macy's, or Kroger — getting paid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cymbio, an Israel-based digital-sales startup, is making it easier for brand clients to get paid instantly when selling on retailer websites like Walmart, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Kroger. These marketplace websites are becoming an increasingly important place for brands to make revenue. Cymbio has launched a new feature for its more than 400 brand clients called Cymbio Finance, which automates payouts for brands selling on retailers' sites. Prior to this financial offering, Cymbio, which was founded in 2014, predominantly focused on providing technical support for brands selling on outside websites. And a key part of that growth is ensuring brands are paid in a timely fashion.

☆ Walmart's mission to offer accessible healthcare has been slow going. But as competition heats up from Amazon, it has developed these 5 strategies to disrupt the lucrative industry.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The company has made several big moves on telehealth, clinics healthcare research, and more. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer announced in October the launch of the "Walmart Healthcare Research Institute," an institute geared toward helping underserved communities participate in clinical research. But Walmart has still faced significant challenges, from major leadership departures to a slower than expected rollout of healthcare clinics. Rolling out healthcare clinics nationwideA Walmart Health center. Launching a research institute for clinical trial participationWalmart is seeking to bolster clinical trial participation with its new healthcare research institute.

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