So we know that giant retailer Walmart (WMT) has been fighting off competitors from all angles, to the point it only recently managed to recover its crown as top retailer. But it knows that those competitors will not take this lying down, and thus, Walmart is currently building out a “Store of the Future” concept. Investors were less than satisfied, though, and sent shares down nearly 1.5% in the closing minutes of Thursday’s trading.
The concept store is being built in Plover, Wisconsin, and the project will take the next several months to complete, until “mid-summer,” the reports note. The revamped store, once complete, will offer an array of new merchandise as well as new pickup and delivery options. The store itself will also be “…better, cleaner, (and) brighter,” which it likely should have been going for all along.
More specifically, the new Walmart will have a set of QR codes scattered throughout the store, allowing for more ready customer interaction. A scanned code might allow customers to order an item for home delivery. The “store of the future” concept will also boast an altered layout that gives shoppers a more convenient and enjoyable experience, something many Walmart shoppers found lacking in the past.
Bulking Up its Advertising
We have also previously discussed Walmart’s aspirations in advertising. Advertising with Walmart does make sense, as Walmart has the products available for purchase immediately. Thus, advertising with Walmart reaches people who plan to buy. With Walmart’s advertising business now clearing $4.4 billion annually, there is every reason to augment this market.
A recently-released application programming interface (API) is allowing for some significant gains as well. With the new tool, advertisers can expand their access to onsite display ads, and between that and search advertising, can yield impressive results. The reports noted that seeing display and search ads together make a customer three times more likely to buy a brand’s products. Plus, they will spend as much as 40% more for these items, compared to customers who only saw ads from searches.
Is Walmart Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on WMT stock based on 28 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 58.79% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WMT price target of $112.33 per share implies 18.64% upside potential.
