Walmart responded on Thursday to a lawsuit alleging the company reported misleading results for its online sales in a bid to catch up with Amazon.
In a statement to Cheddar, the retail giant said:
>“This litigation is based on allegations by a disgruntled former associate, who was let go as part of an overall restructuring. We take allegations like this seriously and looked into them when they were brought to our attention. The investigation found nothing to suggest that the company acted improperly. We intend to vigorously defend the company against these claims.”
The statement came after Tri Huyn, a former director of business development at Walmart, said the company pursued an “overly aggressive push to show meteoric growth in its e-commerce business by any means possible -- even, illegitimate ones.”
That allegedly included paying third-party vendors lower commissions and failing to process customer returns.
Huyn claims he was fired in January 2017 after voicing his concerns.
Walmart, under the leadership of CEO Doug McMillon since 2014, has made a concerted effort to grow its e-commerce business. It acquired Jet.com for $3.3 billion in 2016 and added on niche fashion labels and introduced free two-day delivery.
Throughout last year, it seemed like those moves gave Walmart.com the heft and momentum it needed, with the company reporting high double-digit growth for its online unit. But that slowed markedly during the holiday season, coming in at 23 percent in Q4 compared to 50 percent the previous quarter.
Hours before news of the lawsuit broke, Cheddar spoke with Carter Cast, the former CEO of Walmart.com, who said he’s bullish on Walmart’s ability to beat out Amazon in the “omni-channel retail” space.
“The customer wants to buy when they want, how they want, through whatever channel they want.”
Cast said the world’s largest retailer should leverage its brick-and-mortar stores, instead of just chasing Amazon, and offer a richer shopping experience where customers can reserve inventory, for example.
“Walmart will do well because of those physical stores,” he said. “They have an advantage in having their locations there. What they will do, I believe, is make their asset more productive by using the internet.”
Cast offered no comment when called for a response to the suit.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
