Sign at the entrance to a Walmart in Venice, Florida(L), and a T.J. Maxx store in Pinole, California.

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As more major retailers post earnings, one theme is clear: Value players are winning both the wealthy and the cash-strapped.

Walmart and TJX, T.J. Maxx’s parent company, stood apart from the pack this week by hiking their full-year forecasts and expressing optimism about the start of the holiday season. Both said sales have grown as they win shoppers across the income spectrum, in the same week other major U.S. retailers Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target cut their profit outlooks and said they saw consumer reluctance to make large purchases.

In an interview with CNBC, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said the big-box retailer has seen “value-seeking and choiceful” spending patterns by consumers for the past several quarters. He said “it stands to reason, if there’s a little incremental strain on the consumer, they’re only going to become more so, they’re going to look for more value.”

And TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said the company, which includes Marshalls and Home Goods, has seen a “strong start” to the holiday quarter and is “convinced that consumers will continue to seek out value.”

Shares of both Walmart and TJX rose on Thursday, even as the three major U.S. stock indexes turned negative.

The performance of the two retailers, which are both strongly associated with compelling deals, jumps out at a moment when investors, industry watchers and economists are trying to predict retail sales during the critical holiday season and the outlook for the U.S. economy next year. Their performance could bode well for other off-price chains, such as Ross and Burlington, and value-focused players, including Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Five Below and Costco, which will report their most recent earnings in the coming weeks.

In recent months, a mix of factors have made it difficult to gauge how retailers and the broader economy will fare in the months ahead. That includes jitters about the job market following major layoffs at companies including Amazon, Verizon, UPS and Target, and concerns that the stock market has been propped up by artificial intelligence companies, contributing to the risk of an bubble. A prolonged government shutdown also muddied the waters by delaying the release of recent jobs and inflation data.

There have also been contradictions between what consumers say and do. Consumer sentiment has tumbled to nearly the lowest level ever, even as retail sales grew stronger in October, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.

That’s led to murky holiday expectations. For example, the National Retail Federation predicted that holiday sales will grow by 3.7% to 4.2% year over year and top $1 trillion for the first time, while consulting firm PwC said consumers plan to cut their holiday spending average by 5% compared to the year-ago holiday season.

Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target put their thumbs on the scale this week. All three lowered their full-year profit forecasts and spoke of pressure on their businesses as customers hesitate to take on bigger projects or make pricier purchases.

For Home Depot and Lowe’s, the lack of consumer confidence may prolong a period of conservative spending driven by lower housing turnover. For more than two years, they have seen customers take on smaller home improvement projects rather than splurges like remodels and renovations that cost more or require financing. That pattern has held, even though they cater to U.S. consumers who typically own a home and have benefitted from home equity gains.

Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said even homeowners are “not immune” to feeling shaken by news headlines about the government shutdown, higher tariffs and other policy changes that could hit their wallets — which could encourage price-sensitivity and procrastination on purchases. He said the home improvement retailer has focused on ways it can move the needle with its own strategies, such as expanding its merchandise assortment and attracting more home professionals as customers.

Target, which has faced some struggles of its own making, expects shoppers will watch prices and make trade-offs during the holiday season, such as spending more on gifts and less in other areas like decor or food, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said on a call with reporters. The retailer has cut prices on 3,000 food and home essentials and tried to attract shoppers with low opening price points, such as $1 Christmas tree ornaments.

At Walmart, Rainey told CNBC the company has “been gaining [market] share among all income cohorts, but as we noted for several quarters, they’re more pronounced in the upper-income segment.”

For TJX, Herrman said the company’s focus on value is a competitive edge. He said on the company’s earnings call that it’s blend of “brand, fashion, quality and price sets us apart from many other retailers and has served us extremely well through many kinds of retail and economic environments over the course of our nearly 50-year history.”

In a research note, retail analyst and Telsey Advisory Group CEO Dana Telsey said TJX’s repeated earnings beats “highlight the strength of its value-focused proposition, which continues to resonate with consumers amid an increasingly price-sensitive environment.”

Customers of all incomes are coming to TJX’s stores and website, but lower-income shoppers drove sales growth in most of its geographies in its latest quarter, CFO John Klinger said on an earnings call.

While Walmart and TJX have weathered cracks in the economy better than many other retailers, they’re not immune to economic weakness.

Walmart’s Rainey said that despite its strong sales forecast for the year, the retailer has spotted “pockets of moderation” among low-income shoppers as they feel more pinched than other customers. On the company’s earnings call on Thursday, he referred to the sharp disparity in wage growth between high- and low-income U.S. consumers.

He also told CNBC that the retailer noticed a pullback by customers who stopped receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits during the government shutdown. But Rainey said, “that’s starting to rebound now that people are receiving those funds again.”

“We’re seeing the same things that that others are, and we’re keeping a watchful eye on it,” he said on the company’s earnings call. “But again, I think Walmart is better insulated than just about anybody.”

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A local house with a porch in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA.

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A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.

The great wealth transfer is leading to a great real estate transfer, with up to $25 trillion in real estate owned by older generations that could get passed down — and fought over — in their families.

According to Cerulli Associates, $105 trillion is expected to be passed down by baby boomers and older generations by 2048. Real estate, including primary and vacation homes, as well as investment properties, is expected to be a large component. The silent generation and baby boomers own nearly $25 trillion in real estate combined, according to the Federal Reserve.

Yet with property comes conflict. Wealth advisors say handing down real estate is increasingly filled with both financial and emotional pitfalls for families, ranging from taxes and maintenance costs to disputes over ownership and usage. The straightforward solution is just to sell it and divide the proceeds.

“Some people want to retain the house and other children don’t,” said BNY Wealth’s Jere Doyle. “I can tell you, as a practical matter, there’s going to be fights. There’s going to be disagreements. You’re not going to have the perfect situation.”

But lawyers and wealth planners say there are measures families can take to more effectively pass down real estate to minimize taxes, costs and family battles. Here are five secrets to successful real estate inheritances, whether it’s an apartment on Park Avenue, a beach house on the Vineyard or a ranch in Montana. 

1. Transfer real estate in your will or through a trust to avoid a major tax bill.

Passing down vacation homes is the most fraught, said Elisa Rizzo of J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Her clients often downsize their primary residences later in life, but families stay attached to their second homes.

“That vacation home, often for our families that are very mobile, becomes the centering place,” said Rizzo, head of family office advisory at JP Morgan. “The vacation homes are where people go, and they make really special memories with one another, whether it’s a ski house up in Vermont or a vacation home on Nantucket.” 

Doyle advises against gifting long-held real estate before you die. If your heirs choose to sell the property, they have to pay capital gains taxes on the property’s appreciation since the parents originally bought the property.

“If you give during your lifetime, the kids take your cost basis,” said Doyle, senior estate planning strategist for BNY Wealth. “One of the things that people have to bear in mind is that the senior generation probably didn’t pay an awful lot for the property.”

There are ways to minimize the tax burden, such as using a qualified personal residence trust. However, if you can afford to wait, it is best to leave real estate to your heirs in your will or in a trust at death, according to Doyle. If the heirs later sell the property, they only have to pay capital gains taxes on how much the home has appreciated since they inherited it.

2. Use LLCs and trusts to shield the home from lawsuits.

Rather than having the heirs own the property directly, lawyers recommend placing homes in a limited liability company and setting up a trust for the kids’ benefit that holds interest in the LLC. 

These legal maneuvers protect assets in several ways. For instance, if a vacation home is rented and a tenant slips and falls, the heirs are not held personally liable for any damages. 

“Your other assets, stocks, bonds, are not subject to any creditors’ claims,” Doyle said.

It also shields heirs from the liabilities of their siblings, according to Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Private Bank. For instance, if one heir files for bankruptcy, the LLC structure prevents the creditors from putting a lien on the shared home, he said. 

You can also save on transfer taxes by gifting interest in an LLC that owns the property rather than putting heirs’ names on the deed, Griffith said. Since these fractional interests are illiquid, parents can claim a discount on the taxable value.

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3. Outline who gets to use the home and how. 

Parents can put rules in place with an operating agreement for the LLC. Clients can use the document to make sure the home doesn’t end up in the hands of their children’s spouses, which is a common concern, according to Northern Trust’s Laura Mandel.

“Typically families want to retain these properties along the bloodline,” said the chief fiduciary officer.

Parents can restrict an LLC interest from transferring to surviving or former spouses of their children. With a well-drawn trust, it would be difficult for the spouse to contest it in court, Mandel said. These operating agreements often include buyout provisions that allow the heirs to buy out the spouse.

Parents can also use the document to guide how the property is used, such as laying out how many holiday weekends each child gets, who has the right to redecorate or whether the home can be rented out or used for weddings.

Leaving these issues unaddressed can cause fights among siblings. Mandel recalled a set of four siblings with a large ranch out west that they rented out frequently. After complaints that the ranch felt like a “VRBO,” Mandel helped the siblings reach an agreement on how the property could be used.

4. Set aside liquid assets for the house’s upkeep and insurance.

Money is the most common trigger for family feuds, Griffith said. An inherited home can quickly become a financial burden unless the parents also set aside cash to pay for the upkeep. 

“What ends up inevitably happening there is that one person pays the bills, and then enormous resentment grows, because either that person has to ask their siblings or cousins for money and sometimes those people don’t pay,” he said. “Or they say, ‘Hey, I’m the one paying all the bills. How come I don’t get to use this more often than any of the rest of you?'” 

Doyle recommends that parents use liquid assets like marketable securities or take out a life insurance policy in order to endow the trust. This outlay makes it possible for siblings to hold onto the home even if they can’t afford to share the expenses.

“In a lot of cases, you may have some kids that can afford to pay the maintenance expenses, and others can’t, so how do you treat them equally?” he said.

However, the operating agreement should still include a contingency plan for dividing expenses if the trust runs dry. This is especially important for waterfront homes that are expensive to insure or susceptible to erosion. 

5. Prepare for the likelihood that some heirs may want to cash out.

Parents often assume that their children will want to keep the home, according to Mandel. However, even if heirs initially agree to, they may change their minds later. Perhaps they grow tired of sharing a home with their cousins or a death in the family changes the equation, she said. For instance, Mandel worked with a ranch-owning family where the only sibling with working knowledge of the property passed away unexpectedly, which upended the living siblings’ plan to run the ranch. 

It’s important to plan for the likelihood that some or all of the heirs will want to cash out. Doyle suggests creating buyout provisions that allow heirs to buy their siblings’ LLC interest even if they don’t have the liquidity, such as taking out a promissory note. The assets in the trust can also be used to buy siblings’ interests in the LLC.

“What you’ve got to build into any plan is an understanding that people’s circumstances and situations can and will definitely change,” he said. “Maybe they’re going to have kids, or their job changes, or their health changes. Things change.”

This can be hard for parents to reconcile, but keeping heirs’ hands tied defeats the purpose of a vacation home, Griffith said.

“If your grandchildren don’t have any ties to this place, no one lives here, no one grew up here, nobody cares, then do you really care if they sell the place?” he said. “If somebody else who really does care about it gets to enjoy it, is that such a bad thing?”

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Superyachts in Port Hercules, Monaco.

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A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.

American boat buyers and European shipyards are scrambling to assess the damage from the proposed U.S. 15% tariffs on European-made goods.

With many of the world’s recreational boats and yachts made in Europe, and most of the biggest buyers in the U.S., industry experts are bracing for the fallout from President Donald Trump’s Monday tariff announcement.

The European Boating Industry issued a statement this week saying, “The U.S. is the most important export market for the recreational boating industry in Europe. The 15% tariff rate presents serious challenges for businesses in Europe.”

Granted, most Americans can who buy a $10 million or $100 million yacht can likely afford another 15% tax. Yet brokers said the cost equation for many buyers will change with the tariffs.

“I don’t know any stupid rich people,” said Kevin Merrigan, chairman of Northrop & Johnson, the yacht brokerage firm. “What matters to them matters. If they hear they’re going to have to spend another 15%, it has an impact.”

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Most boat contracts require the builder to pay duties. Yet attorneys said the new tariffs aren’t likely to fall under existing duties, and the buyers will likely have to pay a portion, if not the majority. Brokers said many buyers who purchased their yachts a year or two ago — since a specialized build can take three years from start to finish —are negotiating now with the shipyards.

In the meantime, brokers said the wealthy will do what they typically do when faced with a new tax — find a way around it. The most common strategy will likely be to register the boat in another country, known as “foreign flagging.”

An American buyer can register their yacht in one of several countries that have agreements with the U.S. The most common are the Cayman Islands, the Marshall Islands, Malta and Jamaica, brokers said. By registering the yacht abroad, the owner can enter the U.S. as a visiting vessel and therefore avoid the tariff.

There are restrictions and rules, and special cruising permits are required. And it can cost $5,000 to over $20,000 to register in another country. But the savings on a multimillion-dollar yacht are substantial.

“If it’s never technically imported and it never crosses the customs border line, the tariff doesn’t apply,” said Michael Moore, a maritime attorney with Moore & Co.

Registering in another country usually only makes financial and logistical sense for larger yachts, while smaller boats (say, those under 45 feet) will still likely end up paying the tariff. In that sense, the new tariff regime will create a new class of have-yachts and have-superyachts, with the super-yachters best equipped to escape the 15% tax.

Brokers said the tariffs could increase demand for U.S. yacht makers like Westport, Trinity or Burger Boat Company. And with demand for preowned yachts in a slump after a post-Covid surge, many hope sales and prices for preowned yachts already registered in the U.S. will strengthen.

“That’s my hope,” Merrigan said. “That’s what we’re all hoping.”

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A view of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 30, 2025.

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The wealthy will likely see a host of new tax breaks in President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” along with permanent extensions of many of the 2017 tax cuts, according to tax experts.

Taxpayers earning $1 million or more are expected to see a boost in after-tax income of about 3% in the Senate version of Trump’s bill, according to the Tax Policy Center. That compares with the nationwide average of about 2.5%. In dollar terms, millionaire earners will see an average after-tax income increase of $75,000 in 2026, according to the Tax Policy Center.  

Virtually all the core provisions of the 2017 tax cut are expected to be extended in the final bill, which was passed in the House on Thursday and now heads to Trump’s desk, with some provisions becoming permanent. There are also several new tax breaks or benefits added in the bill that further lower tax bills for those at the top — especially for investors in small businesses.

Here are the five most important changes in the bill that affect high earners and the wealthy.

SALT

Surprisingly, the Senate bill largely follows the House’s version of the state and local tax, or SALT, cap increase. The existing $10,000 cap on SALT deductions will rise to $40,000 for those making less than $500,000, with the income threshold rising 1% a year. Initially the Senate was opposed to a change that largely benefits blue-state top earners. Yet after threats from the House, the Senate agreed to the $40,000 level.

Unlike the original House version of SALT, however, the Senate bill preserves a popular loophole to get around the cap. Dozens of states allow a workaround, called the pass-through entity tax, or PTET, that encourages pass-through owners and partners to avoid the cap at the state level. It benefits everyone from car dealers and dentists to accounting and law partners, but not employees of those firms.

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The initial House version of the bill eliminated the loophole benefit for service industries and most white-collar firms, such as accountants, lawyers and doctors, according to Kyle Pomerleau at the American Enterprise Institute. Yet the Senate didn’t follow the House change.

“The Senate version has no limitation on the workarounds,” Pomerleau said, “effectively allowing these taxpayers to utilize an unlimited SALT deduction.”

Qualified small business stock benefit

Entrepreneurs and investors in small businesses will cheer a change in qualified small business stock, or QSBS. Created during the Clinton administration and expanded under President Barack Obama, the program is designed to encourage investments and creation of small companies. Under current law, investors or owners of a qualifying C Corp for more than five years get reductions in capital gains taxes when they sell. A qualifying company is defined as a “small business” if its total assets are $50 million or less. When a business is sold, owners or investors are exempt from capital gains taxes up to $10 million, or 10 times the original basis of the investment, whichever is greater.

The Senate bill raises the threshold to qualify as a “small business” from $50 million to $75 million. It also increases the exclusion from $10 million to $15 million, and it creates a new, tiered system for allowing tax breaks for those who want to sell before five years.

Justin Miller, partner and national director of wealth planning at Evercore, said the new rules would allow an investor to put $74.9 million into a small business and have up to $749 million exempt from capital gains if it sold for more than 10 times the original basis.

“It’s encouraging wealthy investors in qualified small businesses with enormous potential,” Miller said.

Estate and gift tax

Like the version the House put forward, the Senate bill makes the estate tax permanent, which in Washington means it won’t have a built-in expiration date. The exemption would increase to $15 million per estate or $30 million for couples, and the exemption will be indexed for inflation.

For the ultra-wealthy, the estate tax is the most important of all the major tax code provisions. So having some stability, at least until the next election, will make for calmer estate planning and gifts.

Itemized deductions

The Senate bill includes a limit on the value of itemized deductions that was also included in the original House bill. Only about 10% of Americans — mostly the wealthy — still itemize their taxes, since the standard deduction is now $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for joint filers. Under both the House and Senate versions, taxpayers in the top bracket will have to subtract 2/37th from the value of each dollar deducted over the threshold. The net effect is that top taxpayers will only get a deduction benefit of 35 cents for every dollar, rather than 37 cents.

Philanthropy

There’s good news and bad news for charitable giving, depending on your income level. For lower- and middle-income earners, the Senate bill includes a provision to encourage more charitable giving by the 90% of Americans who no longer itemize. The 2017 tax cuts doubled the standard deduction, eliminating the incentive for the vast majority of taxpayers to itemize and claim the charitable deduction. The Senate bill allows taxpayers to take the standard deduction and still claim a charitable deduction of up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married joint filers.

Yet for wealthy donors, who now account for the majority of charitable giving, the Senate bill is decidedly uncharitable. It decreases the value of the charitable deduction for high-income taxpayers by capping itemized deductions and sets a new floor of 0.5% of adjusted gross income for the itemized charitable deduction.

So someone with $1 million in adjusted gross income wouldn’t get a tax break on the first $5,000 of donations.

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Shoppers at a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, U.S., in March 2024.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Walmart is known for its low prices and no frills approach.

So it may come as a surprise that wealthier shoppers are helping to fuel the retailer’s growth.

For more than two years, the discounter has noticed more customers with six-figure incomes shopping on its website and in its stores. Households earning more than $100,000 made up 75% of the company’s market share gains in the fiscal third quarter, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s earnings call in November.

Those newer and more frequent customers have helped support the company’s aspirations to sell more higher-margin items, such as clothing and home goods. They are driving Walmart’s e-commerce sales, which have grown by double digits for 10 consecutive quarters. And they can boost the retailer’s newer revenue streams, such as subscription-based membership program Walmart+ and its advertising business Walmart Connect.

As Walmart reports its latest earnings on Thursday, Wall Street will be watching whether those upper-income customers are sticking around, after market share gains helped the retailer’s shares soar about 83% in the last year. Yet some investors have questioned whether Walmart’s traction with affluent shoppers has staying power, especially if the sticker shock of inflation cools.

In an interview with CNBC, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner acknowledged that the retailer has gained and then lost upper-income customers before, such as in 2008 and 2009 during the Great Recession. Affluent shoppers stretched their dollars at the big-box retailer, but then ultimately returned to competitors.

This time, Furner said the gains will last because Walmart can save shoppers both time and money with e-commerce options.

“It’s different because we deliver to you at the curb [of the store],” he said in the late January interview. “We deliver to your house. We deliver your refrigerator. That whole Supercenter, which is an amazing retail format, is available in an hour or two for a large part of the country and growing really quickly.”

Walmart has expanded its delivery options, including direct to fridge deliveries. Home deliveries are a key perk of its subscription program, Walmart+.

Source: Walmart

Delivering growth

Walmart’s expanding digital services have helped convince higher-income shoppers to give it a shot, said Brad Thomas, a retail analyst and managing director at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Some of those newer or more frequent customers have joined Walmart+, a subscription-based membership program that includes perks like free home deliveries. Walmart+, which launched about five years ago, is Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime.

Walmart has not disclosed the program’s membership count, but it has reported double-digit membership income growth in each of the past four quarters.

Thomas said e-commerce options wipe out a potential hurdle for affluent shoppers: a potential stigma about shopping at the big-box stores themselves.

“There’s a customer in America that doesn’t think of itself as a Walmart shopper,” he said. “They think of themselves as a Target shopper or a Publix or a Whole Foods shopper and through the app and through the delivery capabilities, they can remain a non-Walmart core shopper, but get all the benefits of getting the branded items at Walmart prices.”

As inflation forced shoppers of all incomes to hunt for deals, some wealthier consumers realized they can get the same national brands like Tide detergent or Bounty paper towels from Walmart cheaper and often faster than at Amazon because of Walmart’s nearby stores, he said.

Walmart’s website and app have increased their selection, too, as the company has bulked up its third-party marketplace. Starting this summer, the company began offering premium beauty brands through its website, including hairdryers from T3 and perfumes from Victoria’s Secret.

Shoppers can now find handbags from Chanel and Louis Vuitton, too. Last month, Walmart announced a deal with resale platform Rebag, which sells the items through Walmart’s marketplace.

At Walmart’s flagship stores, similar to the one in Teterboro, NJ, the company plays up a lot of its exclusive brands such as activewear brand Love & Sports, and Beautiful, a kitchen and home decor line developed with Drew Barrymore.

Melissa Repko | CNBC

Yet as Walmart tries to keep those customers, it wants to encourage them to shop in person, as well. Walmart has stepped up investments in its stores to freshen its look and counter negative perceptions that higher-income shoppers might have.

Walmart has sped up the pace of remodels for its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., with plans to revamp about 650 locations per year, an acceleration from a prior cadence of 450 to 500 per year, said Hunter Hart, senior vice president of Walmart Realty.

Remodeled stores have brighter lighting, wider aisles and mannequins, said Alvis Washington, Walmart’s vice president of retail brand experience. The stores also feature Walmart’s newer and more fashion-forward brands like Scoop and Free Assembly, and national brands that shoppers would recognize, such as Reebok.

The discounter launched a new grocery brand, BetterGoods, last year with colorful packaging and creative flavors that looks similar to merchandise that shoppers might find at Trader Joe’s or Target.

The Walmart U.S. CEO Furner said some of those changes have drawn upper-income customers to the company’s stores and app.

He said Walmart’s market share gains with affluent shoppers have come from online and in-store shopping, but added curbside pickup orders showed early signs of popularity with those customers. Even before the pandemic, Walmart saw that people who shopped with curbside pickup bought more higher-priced items, such as prime beef and seafood, Furner added.

He said that still rings true: Walmart sees more premium items in the shopping baskets of customers who buy online, get home deliveries or use curbside pickup.

Washington said Walmart treaded carefully with its store redesign, realizing it could risk its reputation for low prices and resonance with core customers, who typically have lower incomes. It promoted newer brands, but mixed in familiar staples, such as folded piles of inexpensive bath towels and denim.

“Having a great, elevated experience and great value aren’t mutually exclusive,” Walmart’s Washington said, recounting the company’s approach. “So when we looked at this, it’s like, how do we do both and make sure we can gain new customers and maintain the customers that we have?

When comparing remodeled stores to the rest of the fleet, Washington said higher comparable store sales reflect that customers like the different look. Walmart declined to provide specific numbers, saying it won’t release sales numbers until it reports fourth-quarter earnings.

Walmart’s customer mix for its U.S. e-commerce business hasn’t changed, even as it attracts higher-income shoppers, according to an analysis by market research firm Euromonitor. About 34% of Walmart’s online customers in the U.S. last year had incomes of $100,000 and above, which is roughly flat compared to two years prior.

Michelle Evans, global lead for retail and digital shopper insights at Euromonitor, said that indicates that Walmart is also gaining market share from lower- and middle-income customers.

Walmart still has a smaller share of higher-income shoppers than some key rivals: 49% and 48% of online U.S. shoppers at Target and Amazon, respectively, have incomes above $100,000.

Amazon remains a formidable competitor, especially when it comes to wealthier shoppers and general merchandise categories, Evans said. But Walmart’s biggest edge is its grocery department.

Francesca and Sam Frink, who live in the Chicago area, started shopping each week at Walmart after signing up for its membership program, Walmart+. As two working parents, they said they appreciate saving time by getting groceries delivered to their home.

Courtesy of Francesca and Sam Frink

Grocery gains

One of Walmart’s newer, higher-income shoppers is Francesca Frink. The 30-year-old lives in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Ill. with her husband, Sam, 1-year-old son and their English setter. The Frink family’s combined annual household income is over $200,000.

Last fall, Francesca Frink signed up for Walmart+ after her mother-in-law ordered a stroller from Walmart’s website and got it dropped at her door three hours later.

Initially, she said she hesitated to order fresh foods from Walmart. She bought packaged items like pasta and flour. Yet over time, the couple began ordering a larger portion of groceries, dog treats and even clothes for their son from Walmart.

The Frinks have stopped going to their old grocery store, Kroger-owned supermarket Mariano’s. They estimate that their weekly grocery bill is about 20% cheaper.

Previously, the couple said they avoided Walmart because their nearest store is outdated. Yet Sam Frink said the game has changed with curbside pickup and home deliveries.

“You don’t have to go in,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing.”

Francesca Frink said home deliveries from Walmart, included in their Walmart+ membership, save the couple time while they juggle two careers, a toddler and a dog. Plus, she said she found that Walmart had the grocery items she wanted and even those she didn’t expect, including organic blueberries, natural peanut butter and specialty mushroom ravioli.

Still, Francesca Frink said she still faces some apprehension from friends and family about buying groceries from Walmart.

But she said they’ve been surprised when they’ve tried and liked food items from Walmart.

In her day job, Euromonitor’s Evans tracked Walmart’s digital gains with higher-income shoppers. Yet she also saw it firsthand in her household.

Her husband signed the family up for Walmart+. During the holiday season, he told her all of his Christmas purchases would be coming from the discounter.

“He made a comment that all the gifts were coming from Walmart, and obviously that comes with a certain impression,” she said.

So she was surprised when she opened his gift and discovered it was a Michael Kors tote.

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