Doug McMillon, chairman and CEO of Walmart, issued a warning to the financial community during the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference In New York. According to the head of the American retail giant, consumers will continue to feel the weight of tariffs and inflation. for the rest of 2025, and perhaps even into 2026This is reported by the specialized website Food Business News.
"If we look at the middle and upper income brackets, we see strong demand, while the lower middle income brackets are experiencing some tension," McMillon said in an informal conversation with investors. The impact of tariffs, he explained, is reflected in shopping carts, prompting customers to adjust their choices. "We've observed shifts in purchasing behavior on items that have seen price increases, with consumers switching between products—some of the typical behaviors that emerge during times of pressure."
Walmart's CEO nonetheless emphasized customer resilience: "Overall, people have held up very well, and we expect the same to happen for the rest of the year. This quarter started out equally strong in terms of revenue, so we continue to see what happened in the second quarter carry over into the third."
On the inflation front, McMillon added that price growth in the United States appears moderate on average, but masks significant imbalances: "Overall inflation is a few percentage points; but that doesn't tell the whole story. If we look at food categories—particularly convenience foods, processed foods, and dry packaged goods—prices have been rising for several years. So absolute levels in the food sector are higher than we would like, and higher than American families would like."
