Walmart reported a 17% increase in membership fee income for the third quarter, driven primarily by growth in Walmart Plus and Sam’s Club subscriptions. The combined membership programs now account for roughly one-third of the company’s adjusted operating income, up from 27% a year earlier. During Q3, Walmart Plus added approximately 500,000 new members, bringing the total subscriber base to 10.2 million. Sam’s Club membership renewal rates remained strong at 87%, contributing to steady fee revenue even as headwinds pressured retail margins. Management highlighted that higher membership fees and increased enrollment helped offset rising freight and labor costs, supporting overall profitability targets heading into 2026.

On December 30, Walmart’s online platforms experienced an outage affecting more than 6,500 customers, according to Downdetector data cited by The Wall Street Journal. Approximately 75% of reported incidents involved the mobile app, while the remainder were related to the website. Shoppers encountered failures at checkout, with some unable to complete transactions for over two hours. The disruption underscores the importance of maintaining “five nines” (99.999%) uptime in e-commerce operations; even a brief interruption can translate into millions of dollars in lost sales. Walmart did not provide a public comment, but industry experts note that sustaining near-perfect availability is critical as online channels drive an ever larger share of total revenue.