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Organic Growth at Walmart

In: Business and Management

Submitted By gbaiter
Words 528
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Incorporating an organic philosophy into to Wal-Mart’s megastores is a question that comes down to a number of internal and external factors. In order to if launch this plan effectively, all factors must be considered.

The problem with organic food products is not that it matches the wants of Wal-Mart’s current target market, but that it fails to match the customer’s price point. Despite Wal-Mart providing organic food 20% less than their competitors, a majority of their current target market would still choose the cheaper alternative. This is mainly due to the nature of their cliental, paired with a lack of knowledge in the benefits of healthy food itself.

For these reasons - Wal-mart must look past their dedicated customer base and instead focus on a new niche entirely: a food-savvy, health conscious middle to upper class demographic that is keen about healthy food, enough to notice the affordable price in comparison to competitors. According to a Organic Consumers.com, this demographic is normally willing to pay up to 50 percent more for organic food-products. One of the biggest hurdles that Wal-Mart must overcome in order to achieve this is to upscale their image in order to appeal to the up-scale consumer.

Degn, Walmart’s executive vice president has considered solutions such as executing an environmental sustainability plan, re-altering marketing campaigns, and adapting new floor plans and design. All of these solutions would have significantly high costs. With this in mind, Wal-Mart may end up losing money in sales for the first couple of years through this competitive strategy.

A second issue that rises when looking at Wal-Marts ultra-low price for organic food is whether or not Wal-Mart is complying with the proper standards and certifications of organic food itself. It seems nearly impossible when plugging in the numbers that Wal-Mart would

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