Thursday, October 24, 2024
Walmart Business was launched in 2023 as an ecommerce site that Walmart describes as selling a curated assortment of more than 100,000 items. These include office supplies, as well as furniture, food and beverage, restroom, electronics, classroom and facility needs.
And now, users can purchase Clover's business management solutions, gaining access to Clover's all-in-one solutions for accepting payments, tracking inventory, managing employees, running customer loyalty programs and more.
Fiserv has positioned Clover as a multi-pronged service targeted at restaurants and small retailers. The company claims more than 700,000 merchants currently use Clover, which combined generate $311 billion in annualized processing volume.
Clover's market penetration extends beyond the United States and currently includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Argentina and Canada. In an Oct. 22, 2024 earnings call, Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano announced upcoming launches in Brazil and Mexico, and a pilot program which began last month in Australia.
The global cloud-based POS market was estimated at $4.7 billion in 2023; the expected combined annual growth rate has been pegged at 18.2 percent from 2024 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.
In its third-quarter earnings, released on Oct. 22, Fiserv reported 28 percent Clover revenue growth. It also reported organic corporate revenue growth of 15 percent for the quarter, led by 24 percent growth in the merchant solutions segment.
Bisignano said the company's "performance is anchored in the privileged position we hold at the crossroads of two ecosystems – merchants and financial institutions – which are increasingly interconnected."
Walmart Business was launched to "remove complexity in purchasing, lower costs and give our customers more opportunities to serve their customers and communities," the retailer said in a statement. It added that the unit aims to "leverage the very best of Walmart – our unmatched operating scale, our proximity within 10 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population and the very best of our ecommerce, fulfillment and delivery technologies."
Akin to its strategy with retail customers, Walmart offers a "plus membership," aptly named Business-plus, at a cost of $98 per year, which provides access to perks like free shipping, free pick-up and delivery, and subscription discounts.
"We continue to expand how we serve organizational customers by listening to and learning from businesses and nonprofits about their unique needs and how we can best meet those needs," said Ashley Hubka, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart Business. "Offering Clover is a testament to our goal of providing customers with the products, tools and services they want and need to effectively streamline their operations."
"Fiserv shares Walmart's commitment to working closely with small business owners to enable their success," said Kevin Race, senior vice president and general manager of direct and strategic partnerships at Fiserv. Of the arrangement with Walmart Business, he said, "This broadens our unparalleled distribution network and will provide more small business owners with access to Clover technology that can help them adapt and grow."
James Shepherd, president of CCSales Pro, said he doesn't think the collaboration between Walmart and Fiserv will have much of an impact on ISOs or merchant level salespeople.
The larger question, he said, centers on the long-term direction of the market, which is focused more on specialized solutions that are being addressed by independent software vendors. These are vertical-specific software companies that integrate payment acceptance with all-in-on solutions for specific types of business, for example hair salons or pizza shops.
"Ten years from now, how many of these same businesses will be looking for solutions that meet their specialized needs?" he asked, referring to solutions that can't be met by a generic cloud-based POS solution like Clover designed to meet the needs of many disparate businesses. 
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