While domestic retailers worry about when the economy will improve so consumers come out of their shopping funk, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is using its Every Day Low Price strategy to capture market share around the world.

"Our customer is being impacted all over the world by this economy," Charles Holley, Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, said Thursday at the Bank of America 2009 Consumer Conference. "Our mission, 'Save people money, so they can live better,' resonates better than ever. We're delivering on that across the world now in over 7,000 units, 3,600 of them international." The retail giant is sitting pretty in terms of its balance sheet. Holley said Wal-Mart has $11.6 billion in free cash flow, more than double last year's amount. Meanwhile, the free cash flow of Wal-Mart's top 10 competitors equaled just $8 billion when added together.

Wal-Mart will use some of the money for new stores, repurchasing shares and paying shareholders dividends, which rose to $1.09 in fiscal 2010, from 95 cents in fiscal 2009. "We're being opportunistic," Holley said. “There are going to be some opportunities over the next few months. These crises always produce opportunities."