BENTONVILLE, AR – Although most retailers would view closing stores as a bad sign, Walmart might see recent closures of some brick-and-mortar stores as a marker of strength with hopes to grow online sales by more than 10 percent in coming years.
"I think there are store closures ahead of Walmart that are going to be good for the company and good for shareholders," said former Walmart.com CEO Carter Cast to CNBC.
And Cast speaks from experience; he worked with Walmart between 2000 and 2007, a time during which Walmart began adapting to the online commerce.
"I believe Walmart will continue to use the internet and grow their e-commerce sales for about 4 or 5 percent now, to well over 10 percent," Cast continued.
While Walmart expects online growth, to do so, they have had to restructure its sale format. Cast fears that other retailers that have not put in as much preparation may not fare as well.
“There is no question, there is too much square footage in the industry now,” he said.
But, despite this crunch, Cast believes that Walmart will keep much of its consumer base as it transfers to e-commerce.
How will this transition in the company make-up improve sales performance in the long run? AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you in the loop with the latest fresh produce industry news!
