Walmart has announced it will close 269 stores globally as it struggles to compete with online retailers like Amazon.
The news came on January 15 as US retail figures showed lower than expected holiday sales figures across the market.
Sales rose just 3% in November and December, falling short of the expected 3.7% growth according to the National Retail Federation.
The Walmart closures will affect 10,000 US workers and 16,000 worldwide.
The announcement came three months after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told investors the company would focus on becoming more nimble.
“Closing stores is never an easy decision. But it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future,” Doug McMillon said in October 2015.
The national shortfall in holiday shopping came even as retailers offered steep discounts to attract customers.
Online retailing did see a significant increase, rising 9% to $105 billion, but it was not enough lift the overall figures.
Concerns about holiday shopping added to market concerns as stocks fell sharply. The Dow Jones fell 400 points in morning trading.
The weak economic outlook was not confined to the service sector.
On January 15, the Federal Reserve reported industrial production in December shank by 0.4% the second month of contractions.
Industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities has been hit by a strengthening dollar and global economic weakness.
Warm weather also hit industrial production figures.
The unusual temperatures pushed utility output down 2% in December following a 5% decline in November.
Cyber Monday 2012 in the US is projected to be the biggest ever online shopping day, according to analysts.
Research firm Comscore said consumers would have spent $1.5 billion on so-called Cyber Monday, up 20% from last year.
Online-sales tracker IBM Benchmark put the internet shopping rise even higher – up nearly 27% compared with the Monday after Thanksgiving last year.
Smartphone and tablet computer sales rose 10.2%, said IBM Benchmark.
“Online’s piece of the holiday pie is growing every day, and all the key dates are growing with it,” Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru told Associated Press news agency.
“The web is becoming a more significant part of the traditional brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season.”
Online sales also jumped sharply on so-called Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving.
Cyber Monday 2012 in the US is projected to be the biggest ever online shopping day
Comscore said internet shopping rose by a quarter last Friday to break the $1 billion mark for the first time, while it was up by a third on Thanksgiving itself.
There was also a jump in consumer spending this Thanksgiving weekend compared with last year, retailers say.
A record 247 million people visited stores and websites between Thursday and Sunday, spending a total of $59.1 billion, 13% more than last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.
The average shopper spent $423 over the weekend, up from $398 last year.
Despite the jump in sales over the weekend, there are concerns that the rise in spending over the festive period as a whole will be weaker this year.
The NRF has forecast a 4.1% increase in retail sales during November and December, less than the 5.6% jump recorded last year.
Spain’s retail sales dived in April, showing the biggest fall since the figures started being collected in 2003.
Sales fell 9.8% last month compared with the same month last year, after adjusting for calendar differences, according to official figures from the National Statistics Institute.
The fall was much worse than had been expected, and marked the 22nd consecutive month of declining sales.
Sales had fallen by 3.8% in March.
Spain’s retail sales dived in April, showing the biggest fall since the figures started being collected in 2003
Without adjusting for calendar effects, retail sales fell 11.3% in April having dropped 4% in March.
It is the latest bad news from the Spanish economy, which saw the level of risk attached to its government bonds hitting record levels on Monday after it emerged on Friday that banking group Bankia was going to need a bigger bail-out than had been expected.
Spanish shoppers are being discouraged by government austerity measures, rising taxes and Europe’s highest rate of unemployment.
Employment in the retail sector was down 1.2% in April from the same month in 2011.
The unemployment rate is over 24%, while the economy is back in recession having contracted in the last three months of 2011 and the first three months of 2012.
On Tuesday, a report from the Bank of Spain predicted that the recession would continue in the second quarter of 2012.
“Available indicators for the second quarter are still scarce but they do anticipate that activity will continue contracting in this period,” the report said.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
