• Walmart is cutting the prices of clothing and general merchandise, it said Monday.

• This is because soaring food and fuel prices mean shoppers have less money to spend on other items.

• Stores are struggling to cope with excessive levels of inventory, Insider previously reported.

Walmart is slashing the price of clothing to clear excess inventory and draw in inflation-hit shoppers.

Food prices in the US rose 10.4% in the year to June, the largest annual increase in more than 40 years, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Shoppers are spending more on food and fuel, meaning they’re buying less from other product categories like clothing, Walmart said in a business update Monday.

As a result, the chain is having to cut prices on some products “to move through the inventory, particularly apparel,” the retailer said.

Walmart had a third more inventory on April 30 than on the same day a year earlier.

Employees told Insider that the back rooms of stores were filled with pallets and outdoor storage trailers, with some workers blaming this on the company’s inventory system which automatically orders supplies, including some that their stores already had in stock.

Some employees said that their stores resorted to using trailers to store the excess supply, while one shared a picture of a pile of boxes blocking access to a private breastfeeding room.

In a company earnings call in mid-May, CEO Doug McMillon said that inventory was up because of inflation, late deliveries, and intentional inventory buildup, and that the company would work through the excess stock in the coming quarters.

Walmart had been “aggressive” with its price rollbacks on apparel