The other day, my mobile phone charger wouldn't charge. I checked and noticed a short due to frayed insulation, which I fixed, enabling one last charge. Then I googled for chargers matching the specs of the broken one. One click on Amazon, and a replacement was on the way. $6.74, no shipping, no tax, thank you very much. Arrived with three bars still showing on the phone's battery indicator.
Can't imagine what the Walmart brick-and-mortar experience would have been like.
I have used Walmart.com to order items not stocked in my local store. Good price, free shipping, I get an email when it comes in (quickly)and then can go pick it up. If it is an emergency item, my husband works in a nearby city and they have 2 Walmarts, so it is often available there.
However, I always use Internet to check for prices/shipping cost and time. Walmart sometimes doesn’t offer an item, so it can depend/vary.
We have clients who are longtime Walmart employees. They are loyal and hardworking. It may just depend on an area.
As for real estate, I don’t doubt it, but locally, all I have observed is that Walmart won’t sell an old facility to a competitor. Neither will a local convenience store/gas station chain. Sometimes the closed locations just stay empty for a long time.
Locally, in a town of 4k, we have competitors for nearly every category that Walmart carries. Also, have several boutiques/specialty shops that fill in the gaps w/items & categories Walmart doesn’t stock.