Walmart is taking advice from its own slogan: “Save Money. Live Better” by making two simple changes. Walmart’s extreme power of size makes it easy to save large amounts of money on little changes. The company is saving millions of dollars by changing light bulbs and floor wax within the store.
“We are in the process of a multiyear rollout of replacing all fluorescent fixtures with LEDs in our stores, clubs and parking lots,” Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs told analystsat the retailer’s investor day at its headquarters. “Not only is it good for the environment, these changes could reduce our annual energy costs by $200 million over time.”
Walmart purchases tens of billions of dollars’ worth of goods and services in the United States alone, in which they use for the business, instead of selling it in its stores. This category is labeled “goods not for resale,” and include travel services or maintenance supplies. One of those items in the “goods not for resale” includes floor wax for stores, which the retailer giant recently changed.
“Not only is the new wax cheaper, it’s also sturdier. It doesn’t need to be buffed as often, resulting in less spent on the actual buffing, as well as fuel for the machines,” Biggs said. “That one change in floor wax will save us over $20 million a year.”
Walmart cut its earnings outlook earlier Tuesday, and as expected, profits were damaged due to its acquisition of Indian e-commerce company Flipkart. However, the company’s founding principle is “everyday low price,” which is of course, is only achieved by everyday low cost. With Walmart continuing to save on its own costs, the more it saves for shoppers at checkout.