Walmart employees in 99 percent of stores across the nation received cash quarterly bonuses of up to $500, totaling at nearly one million workers.
The step is part of the retail giant’s previously announced $2.7 billion incentive plan to boost service to its workers and, in turn, its shoppers.
"The business plan is starting to work," Walmart’s Kory Lundberg, Director of National Media Relations, said, according to CNN Money. "Customers are starting to notice a difference when they come into the stores to do shopping."
Among the reflection of the plan was a 3 percent boost in U.S. sales and a 12 percent jump in earnings per share. Overall, CNN Money reports that Walmart awarded about $200 million in second-quarter bonuses to 932,000 hourly store employees, up from the 880,000 that received them this time last year.
Dialing back to this time two years ago, 76 percent of stores were awarded bonuses for meeting targets according to Lundberg.
The retailer has made several moves to increase customer service, including raising entry-level pay increments last February nationwide to $10.00 an hour, $2.75 an hour above the federal minimum wage.
The company has been growing physically as well, most recently having announced not one, but two large distribution centers, one in North Carolina and one in Florida, with plans for perishable groceries like dairy, deli, and meats.
Deli Market News will continue to report any and all key moves Walmart and other retailers make in the market.
