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Competitive advantage of Walmart
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2. S-W-O-T Analysis 2.1 Strengths • Walmart is the largest retailer in the world operating in various formats worldwide (including; discounts stores, supercentres, neighbourhood markets and Sam’s Club), with 3,615 stores today. Leading to consumer awareness and customer loyalties. • In pervious years, Walmart has integrated an e-commerce aspect to their operations. The strength of this aspect is the vast physical advantage when compared with any online retailer. • Due to the convenience and numerous locations of stores, the service of the walmart.com results in an attractiveness to customers, and a way for Walmart to eventually bring more customers to its stores and increase their purchases. • Compared to Costco, Walmart has 57% of market …show more content…
• Both Walmart stores and walmart.com may continue to benefit from international expansion and increasing brand awareness. • Walmart has a great opportunity with the use of their online addition, in assisting them with their large scale of operation. The amount of data that Walmart could collect through the presence of the virtual consumer could develop a better understanding of their customers purchase habits and trends. This could assist in market research and product placement; further emphasising brand and product awareness. 2.4 Threats • In the perspective of consumers, the price awareness of everyday necessities and needs is increasing, as customers would be encouraged to continuously observe the cheapest and affordable stores. • As the growth and attractiveness of the e-commerce industry is at a constant rate, the threat of new competitors into the marketplace is very high. The simplicity and the low barriers of new entrants would be only $10.69 a year to insure that their website is running on the
"Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world's largest retailer, with $285.2 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2005. The company employs 1.6 million associates worldwide through more than 3,700 facilities in the United States and more than 2,400 units in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. More than 138 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide." (Walmartfacts.com)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats around the world. Wal-Mart is committed to growing by improving the standard of living for our customers throughout the world. Wal-Mart earns the trust of its customers every day by providing a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at every day low prices while fostering a culture that rewards and embraces mutual respect, integrity, and diversity. In 2006 the net sales were $312.4 billion versus in 2005 were $285 billion.
Since 1962 and the beginning of the discount retailer market Wal-Mart has been ahead of the retail game. By 1967 there were 24 Wal-Marts that had grossed 12.6 million dollars. In just 7 years Wal-mart had spread into 9 states. By 1979 Wal-Mart was the fastest store to reach a billion dollars in sales. In 2005 Wal-Mart has 3,800 domestic stores along with 3,800 stores internationally, and had made over 312 billion dollars. As you can see the Wal-Mart empire has grown monumentally. To move into this segment of the market would be tough.
By building international reach; Wal-Mart would gain economies of scale, which increase the ability to reduce prices to its customers. Furthermore, global suppliers would help the company facilitate the entry process into new markets by having the “wisdom and support” of an established presence in the market who know customer trends and market needs and specifications. Not to forget the advantage of e-commerce in breaking the international barriers and increasing sales, which is already happening in Mexico through kiosks, where consumers order online and pay/pick at the
In the late 1980’s, Walmart dramatically helped to increase the sell of Rubbermaid products, which lead to increase sells for Rubbermaid. This helped Rubbermaid to expand their company into a household name with dramatically increased sells. Walmart has a noticeably positive effect on the American population and economy but on many corporations.
Walmart is one of the most successful franchises of all time and continues to take fire from multiple angles, whether it’s about the costing of jobs, the wages, the health insurance, the small business destruction, or the environmental impact, but can always back itself up by negating those claims with facts that proves that it is beneficial to the community.
In general merchandise retailing, Wal-Mart’s primary competitors are Target and Kmart. Retail superstores such as Circuit City and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, also provide retail competition. A survey found that the majority of respondents favored Wal-Mart over stores like Target and Kmart. Respondents claimed Wal-Mart offered lower prices, better variety and selection, and good quality. The needs of consumers is an important economic feature in all competitive environments. What attributes (price, variety, quality, etc.) prompt buyers to choose one retailer over another is very important in the competitive landscape.
Walmart a name known globally they are a true empire. They are known as one of the largest company in the world. Sam Walton founded Walmart opening the first store in 1952 and Arkansas since then in has grown. According to Snyder Walmart is located in over 27 counties they have over a 11,000 stores and over two million employees. Walmart stands by the mission statement “We save people money so they can live better.” Walmart is known for is super low prices, and they compete with anyone who tries to enter their market. Walmart has a very formal and bureaucratic structure. There is a very clear hierarchy and commands come from the top and flows to the bottom. Although Walmart is so successful they have received lots of backlash due to some
JCPenney overall has done a good job of trying to merge technology and retail together, but, moving forward, JCPenney should be mindful of its competitors as well as monitor and control feedback from its consumers. It was strategic to innovate the store experience, however, JCPenney needs to focus on satisfying the right target segments in order to become profitable again, which will avoid future plans from backfiring on the company.With that in mind, it is important that JCPenney pays attention to future trends in the retail industry such as the e-commerce trend. This will allow for the company to become more of a hybrid retailer that profitably meets consumers needs both online and in-store (Hartung, 2013). By aligning their techniques of differentiated marketing with sales promotion, the core of retail, JCPenney can better attract consumers and… .
The market is characterized by its high level of concentration, high level of competition, high barrier of entry, and almost minuscule level of government intervention. These traits of the industry created a bloody battlefield amongst only a handful of giant companies. The most notable players are Walmart, Costco, Meijer, Target, and BJ’s Wholesale Club holding market shares of 71.7%, 18.8%, 3.6%, 3.1%, and 2.6% respectfully. As the largest player in the industry, Walmart is the most important competitor of Costco. Currently Walmart operates 660 Sam’s Club locations and 3,522 Walmart US super-centers.
And what is even better is that the convenience comes at a low and affordable price. Hailing its low prices and expanding across the nation and throughout the world, Wal-Mart has become a global behemoth, the global goliath, and the ubiquitous corporation (Marquard, 2006). Without a doubt, Wal-Mart is a success story from the start when Sam Walton opened the doors of the very first Wal-Mart in Bentonville, AK more than fifty years ago. The Wal-Mart chain has remained particularly successful when in 2002, it surpassed Exxon-Mobil to become the world’s largest corporation in terms of sales and estimates that more than 200 million customers visit its stores throughout the United States each year (Gereffi, Christian 2009). In 2008, Wal-Mart boasted a global net sales of $473 million, over 2 million employees, and approximately 33 million retail square footage added in fiscal 2014 (Wal-Mart Annual Report 2014). Wal-Mart has become such a corporate giant by capitalizing on its own brand of grobalization,
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats in the United States and Internationally. It has two segments: The Wal-Mart Stores and The Sam's Club. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States, as well as Walmart.com. It offers apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants. They also offer hardware, electronics, home furnishings, small appliances, automotive accessories, sporting goods, toys, pet food, cameras, health and beauty aids, pharmaceuticals, jewelry, optical department and photo processing services. The Neighborhood Markets include dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, general merchandise, and a pet supplies departments. The Sam's Club segment comprises the warehouse membership clubs in the United States and samsclub.com. It offers electronics, jewelry, sporting goods, toys, tires, books, grocery items, and selected private labels. As of July 31, 2005, Wal-Mart operated 1,276 Wal-Mart stores, 1,838 Supercenters, 92 Neighborhood Markets, and 556 Sam's Clubs in 50 states in the United States. The company operates various retail formats in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It operates 261 Canadian Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs, 11 units in Argentina, 150 units in Brazil, 88 units in Germany, 16 units in South Korea, 697 units in Mexico, 54 units in Puerto Rico, and 292 units in the United Kingdom, as well as 48 units in China under joint venture agreements.
Wal-Mart Stores is the world's first retailer in Canada, as well as the world's largest company. It is the number one biggest discount retailer in the United States. The store sells groceries, general merchandise, electronic items, etc., The Company operates more than 5,300 stores in the US, including about 4,600 Wal-Mart Stores and 660 Sam's Club membership-only warehouse clubs. Moreover, Wal-Mart is the biggest competitor for Costco.
The benefits or competitive advantage Wal-Mart derived over the years from its supply chain management practices is also covered. The reason Wal-Mart is ahead of their competition is because they invest in technology in the 1980s. This investment paid off in the long run. Wal-Mart invested heavily in IT and communication systems to effectively track sales and merchandise inventories in stores across the country. They have set up own satellite communication in 1983. Employees at the stores have the ‘Magic Wand’ at hand. These barcode scanners allow you to check the prices of items at that particular store by scanned the barcode on the product. This is especially helpful when there is clearance that isn 't always marked and sometimes clearance items are cheaper than they
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.