Walmart’s international sales growth in Q4 driven by Flipkart, Mexico and China units

Walmart's international sales growth in the fourth quarter was led by India's Flipkart, Mexico's Walmex, and China with strong performance in festive events across markets, according to an earnings report from Walmart.

"Overall and ecommerce sales growth (was) positively affected by the timing of Flipkart’s The Big Billion Days event, which shifted from Q3 last year to Q4 this year," the US retailer said as part of its results for the quarter ended December.

Walmart International’s net sales increased to $32 billion in Q4 compared to $27 billion a year ago. However, its gross profit rate saw a decrease of 39 basis points (BPS) during the quarter, partially “due to the timing shift of Flipkart's The Big Billion Days (BBD) event” from the previous quarter.


The international arm’s operating expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased by 410 BPS, helped by “three-fourths of leverage due to lapping last year's one-time costs incurred for the ownership separation of Flipkart and PhonePe and restructuring in Africa.”

The firm’s international sales grew 13% “reflecting strength in Flipkart, Walmex and China,” Walmart's chief financial officer John David Rainey said during the earnings call. “International ecommerce sales increased 44% and reached a penetration level of 25%, and this included Flipkart’s largest ever Big Billion Days event with 1.4 billion customer visits over the 8-day period.”