Walmart says it saved $27 million by making 2 tiny tweaks (WMT)

pulse

October 11, 2017 3:26 PM

Walmart is an enormous retailer, which means that tiny tweaks add up to big savings.

Walmart is so large, even small changes can have an enormous impact.

To illustrate that the chain is paying attention to cost, during a presentation to investors in its 2017 Investment Community Meeting, Walmart CFO Brett Biggs used two concrete examples of how the chain has made small tweaks to save money.

The first is what Biggs described as a "small" change to the plastic bags used by Walmart US. That change saved the company $20 million year over year.

The second is even simpler. Walmart shortened the length of receipts given to customers in stores and saw $7 million in savings over the last year, according to Biggs.

As Walmart invests heavily in technology, beefs up its e-commerce offering, remodels stores, improves the store experience, raises employee pay, and lowers prices, the company is now making it clear to investors that it cares about controlling costs, too.

Executives placed an emphasis on cost reduction during Tuesday's meeting, and the word "discipline" showed up in many forms during the event.

pulse