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WALMART’S CEO has opened up about what grocery prices may look like in 2025 – and it’s bad news for shoppers.
Lead exec Doug McMillon admitted he was “disappointed” by persistent inflationary costs but predicted the price of two key items will level out in the coming year.
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Although the future of product costs looks unpredictable, McMillon admitted that price tags likely won’t budge come 2025.
“I don’t know what the whole year is going to look like,” he said at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference, per Grocery Dive.
“I hope, and I think it could be better as these commodities adjust, some of them.”
He said he was “disappointed” by inflation rates, which haven’t fallen as far as tight-wallet consumers have hoped.
Eggs and dairy are once again driving up grocery haul prices, as the average prices skyrocketed in November after a momentary lull.
Last month, the average carton of eggs was an eye-watering $3.37.
And wholesale milk prices skyrocketed 75 cents in the past year to $23.05 per hundredweight, Agriculture Dive reported in September.
However, McMillon believes these items will level out as 2025 progresses and said Walmart feels “front-footed” in food and general merchandise.
Shoppers should expect packaged and processed food items to remain at around the same price mark in the coming year, the CEO warned.
The supermarket brand hopes to combat inflationary pressures by bolstering its membership program Walmart+.
With the membership, shoppers can get free online and in-store delivery for $12.95 per month or $98 per year.
Walmart execs launched the program in an effort to boost its e-commerce business, but sign-ups fell blat when it was launched in 2020.
“We should have more memberships, and we’re working towards that,” McMillon vowed at the conference.
The CEO stressed to attendees that Walmart has survived economic strife before, and said he believes they have the tools to continually turn profits.
“We’ve been maintaining those price gaps through pandemic periods of time and through inflationary periods of time, and that continues up until this day,” he said.
I don’t know what the whole year is going to look like.
Doug McMillon
“We’ve got an assortment that’s really growing and the experience is getting better.
“We’re just saving people more time.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.
Walmart has been under fire after a shopper said that only six out of 40 checkouts were open at his store.
Plus, one policy has left some customers so infuriated that they’ve abandoned carts in frustration.
CPI and Inflation explained
The Consumer Price Index is how the federal government measures inflation.
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shares its CPI numbers with detailed breakdowns of which items have changing prices.
The CPI shows the amount prices rose or fell over the previous 12 months.
The calculation process is complex, but measures the changes in price for urban consumers, those living or working in an American metropolitan area.
While that does not cover everyone, it measures prices for about 90% of the population.
