A、It saw a marked increase. B、It fell short of expectations. C、It became more nimble. D、It was popular with young customers. A新闻

On Friday, Walmart announced it will close 269 stores globally as it struggles to compete with online retailers like Amazon. The news came as US retail figures showed lower than expected holiday sales figures across the market. Sales rose just 3% in November and December, falling short of the expected 3.7% growth according to the National Retail Federation. The announcement came three months after Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon told investors the company would focus on becoming more flexible. The national shortfall in holiday shopping came even as retailers offered steep discounts to attract customers. Online retailing did see a significant increase, rising 9% to ＄105 billion, but it was not enough to lift the overall figures. Concerns about holiday shopping added to market concerns as stocks fell sharply. On Friday, the Federal Reserve  reported industrial production in December shrank by 0.4% the second month of contractions. Industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities has been hit by a strengthening dollar and global economic weakness. Warm weather also hit industrial production figures. The unusual temperatures pushed utility output down 2% in December following a 5% decline in November.
5. What does the Walmart plan to do?
6. What do we learn about the US online retailing from the news report?
7. What has affected industrial production?