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Walmart Delivers Challenge to Amazon; Supplier Fire Hits Boeing By Mark R. Long

Walmart is mounting one of the few serious challenges to Amazon.com's dominance in e-commerce, with its thousands of stores across the country proving central to its strategy.

The WSJ's Sarah Nassauer writes that a decade ago, Walmart looked like a dinosaur of the online-shopping era, as Amazon established dominance in e-commerce. Last year, however, the Bentonville, Ark., company delivered five billion items on the same day they were ordered, double that of the previous year . Walmart's huge network of stores allows it to provide that fast, convenient delivery, particularly of groceries and other household items.

"I am very, very grateful that we have 4,700, roughly, stores," which now double as fast-delivery hubs, said John Furner, chief executive of Walmart U.S.

Bringing all these purchases to people's homes are tens of thousands of freelance drivers-who aren't Walmart employees-using the Spark app, which Walmart spent years working on to accurately predict how far delivery service could extend.

Although Walmart's e-commerce operations, which generate 18% of total revenue, aren't profitable, and Amazon retains a wide lead in e-commerce, the company's stock has doubled in two years to record highs.

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Manufacturing

Boeing is racing to size up whether a fire that tore through a suburban Philadelphia fastener factory will upend its turnaround plans.

Fallout from the blaze threatens the jet maker's efforts to get its manufacturing operations back on track, and Boeing is looking for alternative suppliers. But the WSJ's Sharon Terlep writes that replacing the critical parts isn't easy. The fasteners produced at the SPS Technologies factory-equal in size to about 10 football fields-are complex and must hold up to the strains of air travel , as they are used in engines, landing gear and other critical parts.

Boeing isn't the only company affected by the fire that broke out Feb. 17 and took several days to extinguish, but hurt no workers. The factory, operated by SPS, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is one of the country's largest aerospace fastener plants, providing about 15% of the industry's supply.

Companies throughout the aerospace supply chain-from engine makers GE Aerospace and Safran to Boeing rival Airbus-use SPS parts. Safran and GE supply engines for Boeing jets.

Quotable Number of the Day In Other News

The Federal Reserve is sticking to a wait-and-see approach on interest rates as it digests trade-policy changes. (WSJ)

Economists say tariffs could unleash unintended consequences on global trade that last far beyond the president's term. (WSJ)

Lululemon and Canada Goose are both Canadian apparel companies, but their choices of where to make their products mean tariffs will affect them differently . (WSJ)

CME is launching the first futures contract tied to Southern yellow pine as trade disputes threaten to cut off the flow of lumber from Canada. (WSJ)

The avocado, a fruit that owes its wild success in the U.S. to free trade, has found itself on the front lines of Trump's trade war . (WSJ)

Video: How Trump plans to "take back" the Panama Canal . (WSJ)

China's consumer prices dropped in February , flipping from a gain the previous month, as trade tensions intensified. (WSJ)

Hudson's Bay, founded in 1670, is preparing for a bankruptcy filing . (WSJ)

The Justice Department is probing the cause of soaring egg prices , including whether producers colluded to raise them. (WSJ)

British Columbia's premier wants to toll commercial trucks traversing his province from the Lower 48 to Alaska. (Anchorage Daily News)

The National Industrial Transportation League unveiled a "bill of rights" for U.S. shippers to increase ocean carriers' accountability. (Journal of Commerce)

A.P. Moeller Capital agreed to acquire 40% of Philippine logistics company AC Logistics from Ayala. (Splash 247)

Trump's plans to revitalize U.S. shipping could raise costs on ocean transport operators and spawn a new round of supply chain chaos, executives say. (Reuters)

The Pentagon's new logistics chief wants to buy more secondhand, foreign-built ships and repair them in the U.S. to replenish the sealift fleet. (Maritime Executive)

U.S. rail-carload and intermodal volumes both posted annual gains in the week ending March 1, Association of American Railroads data show. (Logistics Management)

Unemployment in U.S. transportation fell year-over-year last month , but remains higher than the overall U.S. rate. (DC Velocity)

United Parcel Service is raising its fuel surcharge calculations by 50 basis points for its ground, air and SurePost services in the U.S. (Supply Chain Dive)

Kenan Advantage has acquired Alabama dry bulk materials specialist Evergreen Transport for undisclosed terms. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

A plan by Air One International Holdings and Peso Aviation Management to acquire Air Belgium's cargo business fell apart . (Air Cargo News)

About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 10, 2025 07:03 ET (11:03 GMT)

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