And so begins the dizzying three-hour affair that is Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting. In between performances by Stefani, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo and Rachel Platten, company executives take care of less glamorous matters — votes on executive compensation, corporate board nominations and a measure to bring more transparency to the makeup of the part-time workforce. An estimated 14,000 Walmart employees and shareholders are in the crowd, waving flags from 28 countries and chanting “Walmart, Walmart! Sam’s Club, Sam’s Club!”
In between performances, Walmart executives continued to emphasize the need to move online to compete with Amazon.com, which executives referred to as “that other website.” They highlighted recent investments in training and technology and talked about the importance of cutting costs while increasing sales. Each 1-percent decrease in expenses amounts to a $1 billion savings for the company, Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs (introduced by Shelton as “the pharaoh of finance”) told shareholders.
In recent years, Walmart has expanded its online inventory and has begun offering free two-day shipping on orders over $35. It has also found ways to keep its 4,600 stores relevant, by offering discounts to customers who pick up online orders in person. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, owns The Washington Post.)
“The advantage that we have is that we’re really building an omnichannel business, and customers in their lives want to shop in lots of different ways,” Doug McMillon, Walmart’s chief executive, told reporters Friday. “In a lot of the country and a lot of the world, people will stop in stores, online, they’ll pick up and order depending on what they want that moment. Our plan is to use all of our assets to win — and I think that’s an advantage.”
Earlier in the week, the company announced it is enlisting employees to deliver online orders on their way home from work. The effort, meant to cut costs by reducing third-party delivery services, is being tested in three U.S. stores.
“Technology is driving enormous change in retail, and the competition is very fierce,” Greg Foran, president and chief executive of Walmart U.S., said Friday. “But we have an advantage that no one else has: all of you, our associates.”
But some employees were less concerned about the future than the present. A handful of shareholders and Walmart workers presented proposals at the meeting, calling on the company to treat its workers better by offering higher wages, improved benefits and more predictable schedules.
“An unfair leave policy, reduced hours and low pay make it difficult for most of us to pay our bills and take care of our families,” said Carolyn Davis, who works at a Walmart store in Outer Banks, N.C., and was representing the activist group Organization United for Respect Walmart. “Walmart can, and should, live up to the promises it makes: letting us take care of our children when they are sick, and accepting our doctor’s notes.”
Janie Grice, an employee from Marion, S.C., asked the company to offer more information on gender and racial information on the company’s part- and full-time workers.
“Too many of us are still part-time,” she said. “Too many of us have schedules and hours that change so frequently, we can’t plan our lives or line up a second job. Too many of us still can’t pay our bills.”
Walmart executives, for their part, touted the company’s investments in training and wages for employees. Earlier this year, the company said it would raise its hourly minimum wage to $10 for most workers.
“With respect to our associates, the $2.7 billion investment in training, education and wages — that really happened. That’s real,” said Jeff Gearhart, Walmart’s general counsel. “We’re also investing in technology to make our associates’ jobs easier and to help them serve our customers better.”
Last year, he added, Walmart offered 150,000 part-time workers full-time positions and promoted 200,000 of its 1.2 million U.S. employees to higher-ranking jobs.
Throughout the meeting, there were slides and videos highlighting company successes: a 30 percent year-over-year increase in the company’s share price, annual revenue of $486 billion, and an employee from Las Cruces, N.M., who sold 800 packages of Utz Cheese Balls in April, up from 33 a year ago.
Later, Gearhart returned to the stage to announce the outcome of the shareholders’ votes. Walmart got its way: All 11 nominees to its corporate board — including Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon, former Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer and at least two members of the Walton family — were elected (or reelected) by a majority vote.
Shareholders also approved pay packages for Walmart executives, including McMillon, who last year received $22.4 million, and Marc Lore, the company’s head of e-commerce, who was paid $236.9 million last year — or $4.6 million per week. (For comparison’s sake, it would take an entry-level worker who makes $10 an hour nearly 220 years to make as much as Lore did in one week.)
None of the proposals set forth by shareholders — including one that would have required the board chairman to be “independent of management,” and another that asked for transparency on the gender and racial makeup of part-time workers — were passed.
Moments later, Stefani took to the stage again — this time, backup dancers in tow. She sang two songs, including a profanity-free version of “Hollaback Girl.”
“Walmart! Sam’s Club!,” she shouted from the stage, midway through “Hella Good.” “This is our situation right now: I need to see every single one of you here jumping with me.”
The crowd went wild.
Read more: