Wal-Mart Reports More Shoppers, Points To Lower Gas Prices

Wal-Mart’s chief U.S. operations officer said that both urban and rural Wal-Mart stores have seen significantly more customers since gas prices started to drop in the late summer.

Eduardo Castro-Wright, speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference, mentioned that the record-breaking oil prices of July caused many consumers, especially in rural areas, to simply stop coming to the stores, choosing to shop via the Internet or not shop at all. As prices fell, consumers started driving again.

Also good news for Wal-Mart is that consumers, although making more trips to the store, aren’t necessarily spending less per trip. That signals good news for the discount retail giant.

Earlier this month, Wal-Mart announced a 10 percent rise in quarterly profits, likely because the store can undersell many others on the basic necessities, or “consumables” such as food and toilet paper.

Source: Reuters, “Wal-Mart Says Gas Price Drop Helping Store Traffic"