Sam’s Club Powers Walmart’s Growth in China Despite Consumer Slump

Walmart’s China business is expanding rapidly even as Chinese consumer spending stalls, and its Sam’s Club warehouse stores are doing most of the heavy lifting, Fortune reports in a profile of Walmart China chief Christina Zhu.

China makes up about 3% of Walmart’s overall business, but sales there rose 19.3% to $24.6 billion in the last fiscal year and 20.7% last quarter, well ahead of the company as a whole. Retail sales of consumer goods across China, by contrast, grew just 1.1% in the first eight months of the year.

Sam’s Club has grown from 15 locations in 2016 to 67 and is estimated to account for roughly 70% of Walmart’s China revenue, with 10.7 million paying members as of June. Fast delivery and bulk-buying trips, including organised shopping tours from Hong Kong, have fuelled demand. Zhu described the clubs as “buying agents for members.”

Read the original story at Fortune.