Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke has  insisted that the “aggressive growth plans” of the world’s largest retailer would see it expand faster than both its domestic and international competitors for the next “several years”.

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“There is no retail competitor – here in the United States or anywhere in the world – that can deliver the kind of growth that Wal-Mart can over the next several years,” Duke claimed yesterday (21 October).


Addressing investors at the start of the company’s two-day investment meeting, Duke claimed that each of Wal-Mart’s operating segments has a “long-term plan” to improve return on investment. This, he said, would allow the group to produce “significant” free cash flow and increase shareholder value.


Duke also said that Wal-Mart was looking to strip costs out of the business by leverage its global scale in order to deliver high returns on the company’s high-volume discount retailing model.


“Expenses will grow less than sales and Walmart’s entire management team is re-energized to improve in this important metric. The productivity loop is back at Walmart,” Duke claimed.

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In the US, the company said that it plans to reduce prices in a bid to increase customer numbers as it moves into the holiday season.


The company also unveiled plans to open smaller urban stores in its domestic market. The smaller format stores will carry a simplified product assortment, the company revealed.


Wal-Mart said that it will spend between US$1.4bn and $1.6bn in opening new US stores in its next financial year, down from $1.6-1.7bn this year.