Walmart is changing its name - and it reveals a key strategy for the company's future

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Walmart is changing its name - and it reveals a key strategy for the company's future

Walmart

AP/Gunnar Rathbun

Walmart is changing its name.

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  • Walmart is changing its official name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to Walmart Inc., effective February 1, 2018.
  • The name change is another iteration of Walmart's growing emphasis on ecommerce and its departure from the purely store-based strategy of its past.


Walmart is taking the word "stores" out of its name.

The company announced Wednesday that it's changing its official name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to Walmart Inc., effective February 1, 2018.

The new name won't change anything about how Walmart does business. It's just another iteration of the company's growing emphasis on ecommerce and its departure from the purely store-based strategy of its past.

"Our customers know us as Walmart and today they shop with us not only in our stores but online and with our app as well," said Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO. "While our legal name is used in a limited number of places, we felt it was best to have a name that was consistent with the idea that you can shop us however you like as a customer."

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The stylistic change from Wal-Mart to Walmart means the name now matches the retailer's web address, Walmart.com.