What Is One of the Best Retail Stocks to Own for the Next 10 Years?
Key Points
Walmart is quietly becoming an even more convenient place to shop.
A push to enhance customer satisfaction via faster delivery, better product availability, and greater use of AI could fuel its next decade of growth.
It recently made its delivery services accessible to 12 million more customers.
- 10 stocks we like better than Walmart ›
For Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT), low prices and large selections have always been central to its identity. Over the last year, it has been quietly adding a third component: convenience.
That more intense focus on convenience is turning it into one of the best retail stocks to own over the next 10 years.
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The company is creating a better customer experience through technology that enhances order accuracy, gets products to customers faster, and decreases out-of-stock items.
Here's what that looks like:
- In June 2025, Walmart introduced Sparky, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that synthesizes reviews, answers questions, and offers product comparisons. Management says those capabilities will soon expand into service booking and reordering.
- The retailer announced in April 2025 that it was using advanced mapping technology that would enable 12 million additional customers to access its same-day delivery services.
- It's also using radio-frequency identification (RFID) to make sure products are on the shelves when customers want them. A 29‑week University of Arkansas study across 12 RFID‑enabled stores found that using the technology reduced the number of out‑of‑stock items in those stores by 16%.
These convenience upgrades matter because easier ordering, faster delivery, and better-stocked shelves keep customers coming back more often. More-frequent visits can translate into stronger sales growth and better long‑term returns for shareholders.
Source image: Getty Images.
These upgrades could strengthen Walmart's stock returns, which have already been excellent. From 2016 to 2025, the stock grew at a compound annual rate of 18.5%. And that's before factoring in its reliable dividends, which it has raised for 52 consecutive years. On a total return basis, reinvesting those dividends, its average annualized return over that decade was 20.7%.
Walmart's enhanced focus on convenience positions its shareholders to like what they see when they're looking at their brokerage accounts 10 years from now.
Should you buy stock in Walmart right now?
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Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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