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2020s: Continuing growth and development

In early 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced temporary measures such as store closures, limited store occupancy, large-scale employee dismissal, and the enforcement of social distancing protocols for Walmart and many other companies. Store hours were adjusted to allow cleaning and stocking. Limits on items were placed due to the rise of panic buying.

During the pandemic, Walmart changed some of its employee benefits. Employees were able to decide to stay home and take unpaid leave if they feel unable to work or uncomfortable coming to work. Additionally, Walmart employees who contract the virus would receive "up to two weeks of pay". After two weeks, hourly associates who are unable to return to work are eligible for up to 26 weeks in pay. Walmart paid pandemic bonuses of $428 million to its staff. People who did part-time or temporary work received a bonus of $150 while those who worked full-time received a bonus of $300. Starting in July 2020, Walmart customers were required to wear masks in all stores nationwide, including Sam's Club. By February 2022, the COVID-19 restrictions such as the mask requirements and employee benefits were lifted.

In the first quarter of 2020, consumers responded to COVID by shopping less frequently (5.6% fewer transactions), and buying more when they did shop (16.5%). As people shifted from eating out to eating at home, net sales at Walmart increased by 10.5%, while online sales rose by 74%. Although Walmart experienced a 5.5% increase in operating expenses, its net income increased by 3.9%. In the third quarter of 2020, Walmart reported revenue of $134.7 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent.

In December 2020, Walmart launched a new service, Carrier Pickup, that allows the customers to schedule returns.

In January 2021, Walmart announced that the company is launching a fintech startup, with venture partner Ribbit Capital, to provide financial products for consumers and employees.

In February 2021, Walmart acquired technology from Thunder Industries, which uses automation to create digital ads, to expand its online marketing capabilities.

In May 2021, Walmart acquired the Israeli startup Zeekit for $200 million. Zeekit uses artificial intelligence to allow customers to try on clothing via a dynamic virtual platform.

In August 2021, Walmart announced it would open its Spark crowdsource delivery to other businesses as a white-label service, competing with Postmates and online food ordering delivery companies.

In December 2021, Walmart announced it will participate in the Stephens Investment Conference Wednesday, and the Morgan Stanley Virtual Global Consumer & Retail Conference. In June 2022, Walmart announced it would be acquiring Memomi, an AR optical tech company.

In August 2022, Walmart announced it would be acquiring Volt Systems, a vendor management and product tracking software company. Walmart announced it was partnering with Paramount to offer Paramount+ contentto its Walmart+ subscribers in a bid to better compete with Amazon.

In August 2022, Walmart announced that locations were not going back to 24 hours with most stores now being open between 6am and 11pm.

In January 2023, Walmart announced it would raise its minimum wage for U.S. hourly workers from $12 to $14 an hour. Approximately 340,000 employees are expected to receive a raise, effective in early March 2023, and Walmart's U.S. average wage is expected to be over $17.50. The company also announced it would be adding additional college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U program.

In February 2023, Walmart announced that they had made $611.3 billion in sales in the previous financial year, up 6.7%, which included a bump in the fourth quarter of the year, which saw $164 billion in sales. Profits for the company were also up, almost doubled from the previous year.

In April 2023, the company announced it would add electric vehicle charging stations at thousands of stores by 2030, which would be on top of the almost 1,300 existing stations that were in operation at 280 company locations at the time of the announcement. CNBC noted that the company stated it had more than 4,700 stores and 600 Sam Club's stores that were located within 10 miles of roughly 90% of Americans.

In January 2024, Walmart announced it would open over 150 stores in the U.S. over the next five years while remodeling 650 existing ones across 47 states and Puerto Rico. This was a reversal for the company, which had been in a period of de-emphasizing new store openings as it focused on online competition, in particular from Amazon, and came amid an overall greater industry focus on traditional retail in the post-pandemic area.

In February 2024, the company announced that its "Project Gigaton" initiative begun in 2017 to reduce its Scope 3 emissions from suppliers by 1 billion metric tons by 2030 had reached its goal 6 years early, and that 75% of its net sales in fiscal year 2023 were from suppliers participating in the initiative.

In 2024, Walmart reported that they were planning to remove the self checkout from some stores due to feedback.