After having reaped substantial benefits by attracting hordes of value-conscious customers during the economic downturn, the discount chain Wal-Mart Stores has reported a fall in its domestic market sales during the fourth quarter.

In spite of a 4.6 percent increase in its overall sales, the biggest challenge that the world’s leading retailer faces in the present times is to work out a way to retain the new-found customers in the wake of the turnaround in the economy.

Noting that conditions in the US remained “challenging,” Wal-Mart reported a 0.5 percent fall, to nearly $71 billion, in the sales of its US chain. However, the retailer’s overseas sales jumped 19.5 percent, to $29.6 billion, with Chile showing notable robustness.

The increase in Wal-Mart’s international sales, coupled with rigorous cost-cutting measures undertaken by the retailer, helped the fourth-quarter profit of the company increase by 22 percent.

While the fourth quarter year-before earnings of Wal-Mart stood at $3.8 billion or 97 cents per share, the earnings’ figures this time round were $4.6 billion, or $1.22 per share. The fourth-quarter revenue of the retailer also rose 4.6 percent to $112.8 billion.