Latest news with #DougMcMillon
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Walmart Hires Instacart Executive to Speed Up AI Adoption
Walmart Inc. is hiring an executive from Instacart Inc. to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence as the world's largest retailers looks to bolster its competitive edge. Daniel Danker, chief product officer and head of online grocery at Instacart, will join Walmart as executive vice president of AI acceleration, product and design, according to a memo viewed by Bloomberg News. In the newly created role, Danker will lead AI adoption as well as the product management and design teams. He will report to Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon.
Wall Street Journal
10 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Walmart Taps Instacart Executive to Lead Its AI Ambitions
Walmart is reworking its artificial-intelligence efforts as the technology becomes a larger part of the retail behemoth's strategy for growth. The company said it has hired Daniel Danker, an executive at Instacart, as the head of global AI acceleration, product and design. Danker will report to Walmart WMT -0.18%decrease; red down pointing triangle Chief Executive Doug McMillon, a sign of how Walmart aims to use AI as a central tool throughout its business. The company said it is also recruiting an AI platforms leader that will report to global chief technology officer Suresh Kumar.
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Walmart employee claims price of shrimp doubled overnight
By A Walmart employee was stunned to see the price of shrimp double overnight. When the worker shared a photo on Reddit — showing a jump from $4.98 to $9.99 — it quickly went viral. Commenters dubbed it a case of 'shrimpflation,' blaming recent tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. 'I don't really get into politics but I know whatever is going on is screwed up,' the South Carolina-based worker wrote. Several shoppers claimed tariffs and 'corporate greed' were the key players behind the unbelievable price rise. Others claimed the cost rose because it's the 'start of shrimp season,' and that the price tag has not risen in all of the chain's 10,000+ stores. Price fears were highly talked about for months after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon sounded the alarm on grocery prices last year. Things got worse in the months to follow, and employees went viral for leaking photos of price changes after tariffs forced Walmart to raise product costs . Walmart and Target executives had issued a tariff warning a month before the price hikes became a reality. 'We had a productive meeting with President Trump and his team and appreciated the opportunity to share our insights,' Walmart said of the meeting. The meeting may not have been as useful in the eyes of shoppers who caught a peek of the dreaded price hikes in May. Employees in a string of Reddit posts showed the cost of popular items jumped as much as 80%. Some of the employees' photos included a $3.44 can of Great Value cocoa powder that rose to $6.18 and a $49.97 Hasbro-brand baby doll that used to cost $34.97. The warnings grew drastically last month, and some employees claimed over 15,000 items were repriced in a single store . Workers who aren't thrilled about the price changes may have been the lucky ones since tariffs were a factor in Walmart's decision to slash 1,500 US jobs . Chaos erupted in May after a Target employee posted a photo of a $17.99 USB-C cord that used to be $9.99. 'It's happening,' the worker wrote about the 80% growth. More and more Target employees have since blown the whistle on other products , and claimed that 'everything's going up.' Other chains that fell victim to tariffs include Macy's and Chinese online retail brands Shein and Temu . has reached out to Walmart for comment about the product.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Walmart employees expose a 100% price increase for a kitchen staple
A Walmart employee was stunned to see the price of shrimp double overnight. When the worker shared a photo on Reddit — showing a jump from $4.98 to $9.99 — it quickly went viral. Commenters dubbed it a case of 'shrimpflation,' blaming recent tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. 'I don't really get into politics but I know whatever is going on is screwed up,' the South Carolina-based worker wrote. Several shoppers claimed tariffs and 'corporate greed' were the key players behind the unbelievable price rise. Others claimed the cost rose because it's the 'start of shrimp season,' and that the price tag has not risen in all of the chain's 10,000+ stores. Price fears were highly talked about for months after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon sounded the alarm on grocery prices last year. Things got worse in the months to follow, and employees went viral for leaking photos of price changes after tariffs forced Walmart to raise product costs. Several commenters claimed Walmart's 'corporate greed' was a reason behind the price hike Walmart and Target executives had issued a tariff warning a month before the price hikes became a reality. 'We had a productive meeting with President Trump and his team and appreciated the opportunity to share our insights,' Walmart said of the meeting. The meeting may not have been as useful in the eyes of shoppers who caught a peek of the dreaded price hikes in May. Employees in a string of Reddit posts showed the cost of popular items jumped as much as 80%. Some of the employees' photos included a $3.44 can of Great Value cocoa powder that rose to $6.18 and a $49.97 Hasbro-brand baby doll that used to cost $34.97. The warnings grew drastically last month, and some employees claimed over 15,000 items were repriced in a single store. Workers who aren't thrilled about the price changes may have been the lucky ones since tariffs were a factor in Walmart's decision to slash 1,500 US jobs. Customers have since threatened to boycott the company over the price increases, leaving Reddit users to suggest visiting other stores. Employees and shoppers have been stunned by new product prices over the last few month Target was amongst the top Walmart substitutes in the eyes of employees and shoppers. However, its staff members are just as fearful as those employed at Walmart. Chaos erupted in May after a Target employee posted a photo of a $17.99 USB-C cord that used to be $9.99. 'It's happening,' the worker wrote about the 80% growth. More and more Target employees have since blown the whistle on other products, and claimed that 'everything's going up.' Other chains that fell victim to tariffs include Macy's and Chinese online retail brands Shein and Temu.
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Walmart makes shocking claim, shares scary warning
It wasn't that many years ago, when delivery was a standard 6-8 weeks. There weren't of course all that many things you got delivered. Yes, they were all gimmick products sold on late-night television. You could get a Thigh Master, Sweating to the Oldies, and all sorts of book series from the good folks at Time Life, but not much else. Related: Beloved specialty retailer closes half its stores, no bankruptcy There were also famous catalogues like the Sears catalogue and a handful of others. When you ordered from those places, you paid a hefty shipping fee and it took weeks. When Amazon launched, it eventually set a goal of two-day shipping. That goal was set not all that long ago. In fact, it was 2005 when Amazon shared that it intended to make two-day shipping the standard. That means that something that is now become absolute table, stakes and retail, can't even buy itself a beer. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter And, for the most part, aside from very fresh items, and maybe some over-the-counter medicine, in most cases it seems like two days should be more than enough. In reality, Amazon and rivals, including Walmart and Target keep pushing the delivery time standard. We are not quite at these retailers, delivering something before you order it, but we're not that far away from that either. Image source: 400tmax/Getty Images Walmart keeps increasing its delivery speed although you have to question who needs items this quickly? Perhaps there's a larger group of people who plan poorly but rarely leave the house? Whoever the audience is, Walmart has delivered for them. 'Delivery speed continues to help drive our business. We'll soon reach 95% of the population in the US with delivery options of three hours or less," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon shared during his chain's first-quarter earnings call. There does seem to be demand for this speedy delivery. "For Walmart US, the number of deliveries in less than three hours grew by 91% for Q1 versus a year ago. And in China and India, we're frequently talking about delivery times that happen in minutes," he added. Bankruptcy news: Iconic auto repair chain franchise files Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular beer brand closes down and files Chapter 7 bankruptcyPopular vodka and gin brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy And, while Amazon (AMZN) has tried to wean some customers off two-day delivery by offering incentives for a once-a-week "Prime Day" delivery, Walmart continues to bet big on faster. "We're confident in our ability to strengthen this business even as we navigate cost of goods changes. Our short and longer-term opportunities are clear," McMilllon shared. McMillion also shared some thoughts that show that even Walmart isn't immune from what could be called the volatile trade situation being created in the White House. "The immediate challenge is obviously navigating the impact of tariffs here in the US" he said. McMillon also made sure to kiss the ring, something that President Donald Trump seems to like. "We want to thank President Trump and Secretary Bessent for the progress made recently. We're hopeful that it leads to a longer-term agreement between the US and China that would result in even lower tariffs," the CEO said. It's hard not to interpret that as a plea to a president who tends to act first, then make changes when things go wrong (often pretending that was the plan all along). Walmart's CEO also tried to reassure his customers, but he made no promises. "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins," he added. That's basically McMillon saying "it's not us, it's Trump" without actually doing it, The CEO did make some promises on food prices, even though those, too, will be impacted by tariffs. "We want to keep our food and consumables prices as low as we can. Food prices in the US have gone up in recent years and our customers have been feeling that all along. We won't let tariff-related cost pressure on some general merchandise items put pressure on food prices," he shared. Related: Major retail chain supplier files for bankruptcy liquidation That's actually a promise to eat costs to keep prices, but the CEO acknowledged that can only go so far. "But as it relates to food, tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia, are pressuring imported items like bananas, avocados, coffee, and roses. We'll do our best to control what we can control in order to keep food prices as low as possible," he added.. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
