WALMART says it’s already seeing an impact on shopping demand from people taking the diabetes drug Ozempic, Wegovy and other appetite-suppressing medications.

“We definitely do see a slight change compared to the total population, we do see a slight pullback in overall basket,” John Furner, the chief executive officer of Walmart’s sprawling US operation, said on Wednesday (Oct 4). “Just less units, slightly less calories.”

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer is studying changes in sales patterns using anonymised data on shopper populations. It can look at the purchasing changes among people taking the drug and can also compare those habits to similar people who are not taking the shots. Furner said it’s too early to draw any definitive conclusions about the appetite-suppressing drugs made by Novo Nordisk, and similar medicines.

An increasing number of CEOs and investors are talking about how popular weight-loss drugs might change the economy and business. Earlier this week, the CEO of the maker of Pringles and Cheez-Its said the company is studying their potential impact on dietary behaviours.

“Like everything that potentially impacts our business, we’ll look at it, study it and, if necessary, mitigate,” Steve Cahillane, the CEO of Kellanova, said.

Walmart sells GLP-1 drugs, a category that includes Ozempic, through its pharmacies. In August, it said they were giving the retailer a revenue boost. US sales for those medicines increased 300 per cent between 2020 and 2022, according to a recent report from Trilliant Health.

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“We still expect food, consumables, and health and wellness primarily due to the popularity of some GLP-1 drugs to grow as a per cent of total in the back half,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on a call with analysts in August. BLOOMBERG