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Similarities between walmart and target
Competition between target and walmart
Walmart vs Target analysis
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Company Selection Paper
Team B's assignment this week was to select two different publicly traded companies in the same industry. The two companies will serve as the basis for subsequent team assignments. The two companies chosen for study are Wal-Mart and Target. This paper will provide an overview of each of the selected companies.
Date of Company Establishment
Wal-Mart was established in 1962 by Sam Walton. The first Wal-Mart store was built in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart's were gradually put up around the United States and then moving to other countries such as Japan.
Marshall Fields & Company was started in 1881, which moved to starting Dayton Dry Goods Store into the Dayton Co. The Dayton Co. enters into to the world of discount merchandising starting the first Target. Targets grew all over the United States.
Company's Products and Services
Wal-Mart has two brands of stores, the regular Wal-Mart and the Super Wal-Mart. The difference being that the Super Wal-Mart has a grocery store inside as well as all the other products. Products offered by Wal-Mart vary from automotive needs to Compacts Discs and DVD's. Family's can get households goods for kitchens, bedrooms, or patios. Wal-Mart's offer products for every household need like vacuums, mops, and brooms. Wal-Mart is an example of a one-stop shop; parents can get clothes for the kids or for adults.
Target offers products like household goods and sporting equipment. Target and Wal-Mart are similar in the items that are sold. Target offers products for families for kids of all ages, plus has shopping for adult clothing. Target offers movies, CD's, and DVD's. Target also offers vacuum cleaners, bed and bath supplies, and kitchen supplies. Target is another example of a one stop shop.
Auditing Firms
Wal-Mart and Target both had their annual audits performed by the Ernst & Young Organization. Ernst & Young performed an audit on the consolidated balances sheets and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ending on January 31, 2006 for the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc and on January 28, 2006 for the Target Corporation.
The responsibility of Ernst & Young is to express an opinion on the financial statements given by Wal-Mart and Target holding both corporations responsible that the statement being audited is accurate and true. The audits have to be in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which require that the audit must have sufficient evidence that the financial statements do not contain any false material.
As I have outlined in the charts below, there are various similarities and differences between Wal-Mart and Target. Wal-Mart is Target’s primary competitor, and vice versa. Wal-Mart has a strong market presence in its global markets and has a diverse range of products and services that are affordable and available in stock. Target, on the other hand, does not have a strong market presence or efficient product supply; however, Target’s physical environment and innovative products further the brand’s image and value. Unfortunately, Target and Wal-Mart are both e-commerce laggards with major competitors such as Amazon. Target faces complications with their pricing strategies and their product availability, which hinders their strength when competing
According to Kantar Retail, most of Target’s shoppers are younger on average than its rivals, and more educated. That means it has to consistently offer something different and appealing; it emphasizes more on the latest-trend apparel, eye-catching home décor and exclusive designer merchandise than its competitors. This results in a willingness to pay a bit more for items by customers who are willing to pay a bit more. Moreover, this successful
The company has a responsibility to establish and implement internal and external controls for proper accounting reporting. Target Corporation has done a good job of developing these controls and thus the accounting has been reliable and accurate. To assist in a audit of the company, it must establish substantive procedures that can follow up on the EPS accounting policy. A testing to confirm events and their occurrence would be helpful to ensure that the events and transactions have actually occurred and are recorded in the financial statements accordingly.
Year over year, Target Corp. has been able to grow revenues from $51.3B to $57.9B. Most impressively, the company has been able to reduce the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 69.64% to 69.29%. This was a driver that led to a bottom line growth from $2.4B to $2.8B. Target outperformed (corporate governance quotient) 85.5 % of S&P 500 companies and 97.7 % of discount retail stores. The corporate governance quotient incorporates the values of transparency, accountability, integrity, and responsibility towards maximizing shareholder value. Yahoo analysts opinions mean recommendation is currently a 2.2, indicating moderate buy to hold (a 1.0 is a strong buy and a 5.0 is a strong sell).
Target has seen consistent growth since its inception, and has confidence that future growth will continue (see attached financial statements). In 2004, Target sold two of there business units, Mervyn's and Marshall Field's for approximately $4.9 billion. This allowed for extensive aggregate pretax cash that will be used for future store sites (as well as upper management bonuses). Target's Board also approved a $3 billion share repurchase program which they expect to complete in two to three years.
This goal of this analysis is to shadow some light on K-Mart and Target and with the help of extensive research. In this analysis we can find out what each company can do, where they lack and what has to be done in order to keep the company profitable and alive. Thus, we will try to look at the Target wholly and then it will identify a successful business strategy and thus show that the strategy has moved the Target into one of such leaders in the industry. When we will take a look at K-Mart and then we will move on the identification of a failed business strategy and then show that the strategy has been holding this company at the back. After that we will try to perform a cross- case analysis by contrasting and comparing the case studies on the points of difference and the parity. This will help us in looking at a side by side difference of a SWOT analysis and also the five force analysis.
Like their competition, Target has made many changes over the years when it comes to their products and services. In order to meet the ever changing environment and ever changing customer needs Target has not only increased the...
Wal-Mart now operates retail stores around the globe in three different facets: Wal-Mart Stores, Sam's Club, and International.
Wal-Mart’s competitive environment is quite unique. Although Wal-Mart’s primary competition comes from general merchandise retailers, warehouse clubs and supermarket retailers also present competitive pressure. The discount retail industry is substantial in size and is constantly experiencing growth and change. The top competitors compete both nationally and internationally. There is extensive competition on pricing, location, store size, layout and environment, merchandise mix, technology and innovation, and overall image. The market is definitely characterized by economies of scale. Top retailers vertically integrate many functions, such as purchasing, manufacturing, advertising, and shipping. Large scale functions such as these give the top competitors a significant cost advantage over small-scale competition.
Walmart product selections is almost three times as much as that of HEB. Walmart is a one-stop-shop store. Customers can walk into Walmart and literally shop until they drop. Walmart provides groceries, baby clothes, boys/girl clothes, adult men/women, shoes, backpacks, diapers, wipes, baby formula, electronics, candles, towels, laundry detergent, cookware, gardening tools, birthday cards, gift bags, candy, costumes, school supplies, office supplies, mini refrigerators, outdoor activities, toys of all ages, board games, bikes, scooters, helmets, sport activities, a fully functioning automotive department, where customers can get oil changes while they shop. An Ophthalmologist office with in store purchase and carry out, a nail and hair salon, and a fully functioning bank. If that’s not enough, why go home and cook after all that shopping when you can stop and grab a bite to eat at Mcdonalds or
Unlike Walmart which has tapped into other businesses such as retailing fuel, Target has not tapped into businesses such as financial services and fuel filling stations among others
Target’s ecommerce, though, they have tried to push it, still fall behind in comparison to stores like Wal-Mart. While store like Wal-Mart and Kroger expand into areas like fuel and financial services, Target remains the same. And despite Target’s well-known brand name, they have yet to tap into international markets (Target Corporation SWOT Analysis,
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.
In other words, it wants to offer lower prices than a competitor like Target in order to drive foot traffic and sales. Wal-Mart has been effective in its quest, but Target has an edge in one area, and it 's an area that has the potential to grow. Target 's secret weapon is its REDcard. For Target customers using the REDcard, Target is actually cheaper than Wal-Mart. This is because Target REDcard members save 5% on most purchases. Plus, Target REDcard members visit the store more often and buy more items. Target is also offering free online shipping for REDcard members, which has led to significant online penetration. Wal-Mart has the edge, but not when you include Target 's
The first Wal-Mart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 1969 it was incorporated into Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and in 1972 went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company grew steadily across the United States, and by 1990 was the nation's largest retailer. In 1991 and 1994, Wal-Mart moved into Mexico and Canada respectively. By 1997 it was incorporated into the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of 2005, Wal-Mart has stores in the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, and brings in revenue of close to 300 billion dollars a year. In 2006, Wal-Mart invaded the China and India's markets. During the last two decades, Wal-Mart has been able to take advantage of the rise of information technology and the explosion of the global economy to change the balance of power in the business world (Wikipedia, 2006). Today Wal-Mart continues to grow and their success is not only from their sound strategic management planning but also from its implementation of those strategic plans. In other words operational planning has been an important key to their success.