Walmart CEO addresses the concerns of many longtime shoppers

Sam Walton was famous for his aggressive pursuit of rock-bottom prices. 

Legend has it that the Walmart founder used family vacations as an excuse to check out prices at competitor stores in other states, only to come home and find ways to undercut those competitors at his own chain, Time shared.

Current Walmart shoppers will be happy to know that the company’s new CEO, John Furner, is committed to carrying on Walton’s legacy, delivering those everyday low prices to today’s consumers.

Walmart’s consumer base is changing 

Recently, Walmart has seen a major shift in its core consumer base.

Once the preferred retailer of lower- and middle-income households, the company is seeing outsized growth among households that earn $100,000 or more per year.

“This quarter, the majority of our share gains came from households making more than $100,000,” Furner told investors during the company’s fourth-quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings call.

The trend continued in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, with Furner telling investors Walmart U.S.’s near-50% net sales growth was “fueled by increased engagement with higher-income households.”

While this growth is good news for the company, it’s had many Walmart shoppers worried that the retailer would start raising its prices to capitalize on the increased amount of disposable income it’s now attracting.

But in his first interview as Walmart Inc. CEO, Furner is putting those concerns to rest.

Walmart CEO John Furner says Walmart’s everyday low prices are here to stay.

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John Furner addresses a growing concern

In a sit-down with Fast Company, Furner said he was committed to maintaining Walmart’s everyday low price strategy, while ensuring the company provides higher-quality goods that appeal to higher-income households.

“We have a long history and deep roots in what we call ‘everyday low price,’” he said. “That helps customers trust that a basket of goods [from Walmart] will be their lowest cost option over time.”

“We may not win on every single item every day, but over time we will win on a basket of goods, and that’s really important,” he continued. “That means protecting things like opening price points. It means having a good, better, best assortment throughout the categories that we’re in, and the flexibility to have a really large assortment.”

When asked if he foresees this new high-income consumer base leaving when the economy stabilizes, Furner said no, citing the retailer’s convenience as a major factor.

“People can pick up [from Walmart] on the way home from work. They can have a delivery. They can get an express delivery,” he said. “The combination of a broad assortment and a faster experience, those really resonate with customers of all income groups.”

Walmart is betting on more than low prices

While Furner is committed to maintaining Walmart’s low prices, the CEO says affordability alone isn’t enough to keep high-income shoppers returning.

Instead, he says convenience — making it easier, faster, and more convenient for customers to shop — will be the key to earning their long-term loyalty.

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To do that, he’s concentrating on two things: better incorporating AI into the shopping experience and improving delivery speeds.

“About a year ago, we decided it was time to go out and start talking about the company differently,” Furner told Fast Company. “There were a lot of customers and people that didn’t know that we did delivery, didn’t know we could deliver in an hour, didn’t know about the half-hour delivery.”

“We can now reach about 60% of the country in under 30 minutes,” he continued.

But, he says, delivery speed isn’t enough to secure the loyalty of overworked, overwhelmed shoppers. A seamless, nearly mindless shopping experience will also be necessary to keep their business long-term.

That’s where Sparky comes in.

Sparky is Walmart’s AI shopping agent. First introduced in June 2025, the number of tasks Sparky can help with has grown exponentially. Furner sees its role accelerating over the next 12 months.

“It’s going to be able to take more actions in the future,” he told Fast Company. “Sparky’s very rapidly heading to a place where it could be your personal shopping agent at Walmart. We think it’ll take a lot of time and friction out of the experience.

“The number of people that are using it is doubling about every quarter,” he continued. “Those that do use it are converting at a higher basket level. In the first quarter alone, we saw about a 35% higher basket for those who use Sparky compared to those who didn’t. So we think it’s an experience that’s helping people solve problems.”

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