...Study: Wal-Mart Stores “Every Day Low Prices” In China Webster University INTB 5000 1 Webster University 2 Wal-Mart Stores “Every Day Low Prices” In China FACTS: First opened in Shenzhen on August 12, 1996 As of December 2007 94 stores in 51 cities Employs 43,000+ associates Serves around 5 million customers per week Transition from rural US to metro/urban in China Competitive analysis a core value of the company Shopping 1,500 items and price matching them through “Special Buy” Analysis Major pressure from the Chinese regional governments to centralize in high growth regions About-face by Chinese govt. on Shanghai is of interest Has major implications on Wal-Mart’s ability to provide infrastructure for stores Supply Chain Challenges Abound Tier 1 cities include Beijing – Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou Tier 2 cities include Chengdu, Nanjing, Chongqing, & Wuhan Tier 3 cities include Changzho, Jinhua, Mianyang Webster University 3 Wal-Mart Stores “Every Day Low Prices” In China 7,058 Units 1.9 Million Associates 23 offices sourcing from 70 countries UK 340 Units Canada 292 Units Japan 393 Units US 4,103 Units Mexico 943 Units Central America 433 Units China 86 Units Trust-Mart 101 Units India JV –Aug 2007 Puerto Rico 54 Units Brazil 297 Units Argentina 16 Units Webster University 4 Wal-Mart Stores “Every Day Low Prices” In China Webster University 5 Wal-Mart Stores “Every Day Low Prices”...
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...ONLINE SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 ABSTRACT The main line of business of Wal-Mart is allowing customers to shop anywhere anytime online, on mobile devices, and in stores. The vision is to create opportunities and bring value to customers and communities around the world. The marketing mix strategy changes in the different locations of business and it is important to know how to effectively and efficiently give the consumers what they need and want. Using a strategic marketing mix will make the company flourish and maintain a good business production. THE GLOBAL COMPANY OF WALMART Wal-Mart is a global company that is very popular from their slogan of “Every Day Low Prices”. The main goal of Wal-Mart is to provide the public with quality goods for lesser price than the competition. Wal-Mart has over 245 million customers with locations in 27 different countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With employment of 2.2 million associates worldwide, you would expect for profits to be $466 billion in the year 2013 (Corporate Wal-Mart 2013) The main line of business of Wal-Mart is allowing customers to shop anywhere anytime online, on mobile devices, and in stores. The vision is to create opportunities and bring value to customers and communities around the world (Corporate Wal-Mart 2013). The company of Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer and is very popular with lower and middle class families. Wal-Mart started as a small discount retailer in Rogers, Ark. and has grown...
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...Wal-Mart in China In the United States, Wal-Mart has become the leader of all retail stores and is the largest retailer than any other dominating the industry with stores in the international market. The company operates in 27 countries including Canada, and the United Kingdom (Farhoomand, & Wang, 2008; Wal-Mart, 2014). Wal-Mart was founded in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton (Wal-Mart, 2014); and throughout the years it grew into a successful business. When Mr. Walton created Wal-Mart, he defined his business in three distinct objectives: individual respect, customer service, and strive for excellence (Hayden, et al., 2002). At that time, he utilized the “pricing philosophy” as one part of his corporate management strategy; this technique involved selling high quality, brand name products at the lowest price and has remained the same since Mr. Walton first opened the store (Farhoomand, & Wang, 2008; Hayden, et al., 2002, p. 16). Wal-Mart became a departmentalized, discount retail business and although the company launched its business in small-towns it expanded into larger cities (Farhoomand, & Wang, 2008; Hayden, et al., 2002). To accomplish his corporate aforementioned goals, Sam established two distinct rules; the first, the “Sundown Rule” in which an associate must logically provide an answer to a request or question from a customer or supplier within 24 hours (Hayden, et al., 2002, p. 16). Second, the “Ten Foot Rule” in which “an associate must greet, smile, and attend...
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...“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” 1. One of the things that Wal-Mart prides itself on is its ability to keep track of inventory. Wal-Mart uses a device that tracks how every item in the store is doing, whether it be for the month, week, day, or even an hour within a day. Wal-Mart knows exactly how the item is selling and when. It is important because this helps Wal-Mart keep their shelves full with what they need and when they need it. This also gives Wal-Mart an edge in the negotiating process with suppliers since they know exactly how the supplier’s goods have done in the past. This gives much more power to the retailer rather than the producer. 2. In the year 1994, Rubbermaid was ranked as the nation’s most admired company. This came in part because originally the company did not do business with Wal-Mart, but once Rubbermaid started dealing with Wal-Mart they saw their numbers grow. As the years went on Rubbermaid ran into a problem where the cost for the raw materials used in their products went up causing production costs to increase. As a result Rubbermaid attempted to ask its retailers to increase the price of Rubbermaid products. Wal-Mart refused because of their low price promise to the customer. Wal-Mart then began to cut some Rubbermaid products from their stores which negatively reflected on Rubbermaid. As a result in the year 2004, rather than Rubbermaid being the most admired company, it had become Wal-Mart. 3. An opening price point...
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...Study of Asia Strategy: Wal-Mart versus Carrefour Miao-Que Lin Fu Jen Catholic University, China. Wen-Kuei Liang Tatung University, China. Abstract Wal-Mart, the number one retailer in the world, persistently maintain three fundamental beliefs—respect everyone, total-solution service, and in search of highest quality—to shape their unique corporate culture. They insist lowest price every day, carry out total solution services, effectively control the cost of global logistics, fully leverage information technology to become e-company, powerfully motivate employees to work and share knowledge and adopt a play-safe strategy in internationalization. As for the number two player—Carrefour, they provide customers with one-stop shopping, lowest price, fresh products, self-served shopping in a hypermarket with free parking lots. In contrast to Wal-Mart’s internationalization strategy, Carrefour expands to foreign markets faster and more flexible than their counterpart. This study investigates the configuration in Asia, marketing service, product procurement, logistics management, digitalization and human resource management of Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The authors then propose strategic implications for global retailers to increase their management effectiveness and efficiency. Introduction Wal-Mart founded by Sam Walton adopted circumventing strategy by starting her operations in small towns and then expanding to bigger cities. She maintains lowest price everyday and promises...
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...Overview Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is an American multinational retailer corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972 is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states and Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have had mixed results: its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China are highly successful, whereas ventures in Germany and South Korea were unsuccessful (Zimmerman, 2010). Wal-Mart's operations are organized into three divisions: Wal-Mart Stores U.S., Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart International. Wal-Mart stores come in one of three traditional formats: Supercenters average about 185,000 square feet in size and carry general merchandise and include a supermarket. Discount stores average approximately 108,000 square feet in size and carry a wide assortment of general. Neighborhood stores are usually about 42,000 square feet in size and carry a limited assortment of general...
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...Suggestions Walmart needs to adjust to the Chinese market, while leveraging its source of competitive advantage. This requires a delicate balance. At the US, the brand Walmart is associated with low price rather than quality. In China, where everyone is going for low prices and providing low quality to do so, Walmart’s own brand could be an assurance for low prices but with quality by making the Walmart name about more than just retailing. The suggested strategy in the 2008 Walmart supplier meetings shows that it’s heading in that direction (Business Week). This also follows Gome’s strategy of renaming its suppliers to their own brand (Business Week), but goes beyond it as the foreign brand in China is already associated with higher reliability and quality assurance. This actually holds true in China were retailers do a better job of enforcing supplier quality than the local regulations. With that, Walmart is still able to use its expertise and knowledge in supplier negotiation and distribution system to keep costs down. Although Walmart is a Joint-Venture, the sources do not mention any attempt to leverage the local partner to meet the local market, which seems the opposite to some other joint ventures discussed like Danone and Wahaha. Working together with the local partner to understand where and how the local regulations can be used or adjusted for Walmart’s success and gaining a stronger hold of the potential customer’s heart might help Walmart’s growth and dominance in...
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...Weekly Reflection – A Review of Wal-Mart Tim Justice, Leisa Allender, Michael Hyde, Matthew ECO/365 December 2, 13 Christopher Rakovalis Weekly Reflection – A Review of Wal-Mart Economics is a widely popular subject studied by economists around the world. Economics is divided into two primary sub-categories; macroeconomics and microeconomics. “Microeconomics is the study of individual choice and how that choice is influenced by economic forces” (Colander, 2008, p. 15). Wal-Mart, a retail conglomerate with retail locations found in many countries, is a perfect example of how one businessman who understood the theories of efficiency and the invisible hand theorem, created one of the world’s largest retailers. This reflection attempts to explain the history of Wal-Mart, the market in which it operates, the role of government regulations of the retail industry, and issues or opportunities faced by Wal-Mart today. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) was a vision for Sam Walton while he was operating a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas, in the late 1940s. Sam was always looking for deals from his suppliers and instead of pocketing the profits as the majority of retailers often do; he passed the savings on to the customers and earned his profits from volume. Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas, on July 2, 1962. What began as a small discount retail store has grown to thousands of stores in the United States and expanded internationally as well...
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...Is Wal-Mart Good For America? Introduction We all want to do what is best for our families, our friends, ourselves and our country. However, our nation’s number one corporation is under constant ridicule for being a negative part of the American way. Wal-Mart is the overall number one on the fortune 500, over taking Exxon Mobile after a one year slip to the number 2 spot. However Wal-Mart is constantly being ridiculed by media and everyday citizens, its employees included. These opinions are often brought forth because of four major issues; the pay and benefits packages of Wal-Mart employees, the quality and buying of their goods from China, big box corporation killing local businesses ,and Wal-Mart taking jobs away and not creating new, stronger jobs .To answer each question I will use research from many different mediums, financial statements, and my personal experience as a three year Wal-Mart employee, and present facts and numbers that would be crucial in making an educated decision, following this information I will present what I believe is strong and weak about Wal-Marts current way of doing business, and then offer my solutions to answer these questions and answer the big question. Is Wal-Mart good or bad for America? Does Wal-Mart Treat Their Employees Right? As a Wal-Mart employee, I have gotten to see how things are ran, how we receive the goods, how they are taken to the floor, how it is stocked, and cleaned. I have been an overnight stocker at one of the...
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...Introduction Wal-Mart is one of the world’s largest retailers in the world. They strive themselves in saving people money so they can live better. Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart in 1962, he believed that leadership through service was what it took for a business to be successful. It was that mentality that made Wal-Mart’s working environment revolves around good customer service and great value. The first Wal-Mart store opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Ark. By 1967, the Walton family owned 24 stores, and gaining 12.7million in sales. By 1969, Sam Walton realized that Wal-Mart was going to be much bigger than he anticipated and he officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart). In was not long after he incorporated the company that Sam or Mr.Sam as many called him, decided to take Wal-Mart national. His vision’s widespread appeal was so successful among Americas that by 1972, Wal-Mart was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as WMT. At this point Wal-Mart was growing so fast and being so successful that by 1990, Wal-Mart had officially became the nation’s number-one retailer. Their focus was still to provide its customers with a one-stop shopping supermarket that had every day low prices (walmart). Wal-Mart had become so successful in America due to its size, power, and low prices that globalizing was just a matter of time and money. At first, Wal-Mart considered entering Europe, Asia, and other countries in the western hemisphere. However, they realized that...
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...Powell Wal-Mart MKTG305-1301A Applications in Marketing Project Type: Unit 5 Individual Project March 17, 2013 Abstract For this assignment, Wal-Mart was chosen as my Fortune 500 Company. Let’s begin by describing Wal-Mart’s main line of business and provide the name of four different countries that Wal-Mart operates. Then clarify the putting into practice the 4Ps marketing mix theory by Wal-Mart and explain any differences following the carrying out of this theory from country to country. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart stores has maintained being at the top of the corporate ladder and had been on top for two years in a row for Fortune 500 and Global 500 (CNN Money, 2013). Sam Walton opened a Walton’s 5 & 10 store on Bentonville Town Square in Arizona in 1950; this little dime store was the beginning for Wal-Mart. This location is now Wal-Mart’s Visitor Center. Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas (Wal-Mart, 2012). Wal-Mart is all about helping people to save money so that they are able to live better lives. People are able to shop anytime, anywhere whether it is online, from their mobile devices, or in retail stores (Wal-Mart, 2012). Wal-Mart has locations operating in 27 different countries under 69 different banners. Four countries in which Wal-Mart operates are: United States, China, Argentina, and Japan. In the United States, there are Wal-Mart Supercenters, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Express, Neighborhood Markets, and Wal-Mart Discount...
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........4 VISION STATEMENT................................................................................................................................5 MISSION and OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................................................5 COMPANY SUMMARY................................................................................................................................6 OWNERSHIP....................................................................................................................................................6 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE..........................................................................................................7 HISTORY OF WAL-MART..........................................................................................................................8 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................................9 MARKETING ANALYSIS...........................................................................................................................10 MARKET SEGMENT....................................................................................................................................11 MARKET SHARE.....................................................................................................................................13 DOMESTIC COMPETITORS 14 INTERNATIONAL...
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...ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE7 HISTORY OF WAL-MART8 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS9 MARKETING ANALYSIS10 MARKET SEGMENT11 MARKET SHARE13 DOMESTIC COMPETITORS14 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS15 CURRENT PRODUCTS16 PRODUCTS16 BCG MATRIX17 STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY19 COMPETITIVE EDGE20 MARKETING AND SALES STRATEGY21 COST STRATEGY21 CAPITAL STRUCTURE STRATEGY21 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS22 GENERAL OVERVIEW22 OPERATING EXPENSES AND NET SALES22 OPERATING INCOME23 FREE CASH FLOW23 ACCOUNTING ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS23 INVENTORIES23 DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION24 GENERAL STRENGHTS24 ACCOUNTING ASSUMPTION AND METHODS25 EVOLUTION AND CAUSE FOR THE CHANGES26 KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS27 LIQUIDITY RATIOS28 PROFITABILITY RATIOS28 DEBT RATIOS29 OPERATING PERFORMANCE RATIOS30 ANALYSYS OF RISK31 FX AND INTEREST RISK32 SOLVENCY RISK33 COMPETITORS ANALYSIS34 SWOT ANALYSIS37 RECOMMENDATIONS38 BIBLIOGRAPHY39 INTRODUCTION Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. Walmart operates more than 8,692 retail units across three business segments of retail stores worldwide that offer a wide array of general merchandise including groceries, apparel, electronics, and small appliances. In addition, the company is the world's largest retailer and grocery chain by sales and just over half of the company's sales comes from grocery items. Over 54% of the company's stores are located in the United States...
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...1. Compare and contrast Wal-Mart’s efforts in Germany and South Korea with its operation in China? After more than a decade, Wal-Mart left Germany failing to become the popular “Everyday Low Prices” all in one shopping spot as it is in the U.S. Walmart has also failed abroad in other countries such as South Korea. There were only 16 stores in South Korea and was eventually sold out to a Korean discount chain, Shinsegae, for $882 million dollars. Reasons why Wal-Mart fails in these countries occur from the lack of strategic plan, other than the duplication of the U.S. strategy. The strategy of low prices, keen inventory control, and a huge selection of goods was not a success in German and Korean markets. The culture was also a factor that Wal-Mart needed to consider and alter their strategy before entering Germany and South Korea. For example, in Germany the company had American managers that like in the U.S. offer to bag groceries while Germans like to bag their own groceries. Also, the customer service was translated into being overly friendly with customers where smiling and greeting is not a norm in Germany. In addition, Wal-Mart never established relations with labor unions. In Korea, the racks were taller than that of competitors which raised a problem for people having to use ladders to reach items and the infrastructure also turned customers off with ceilings that showed pipes while their competitor E-Mart had decorated ceilings. Having failed to the tastes of South Korean...
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...Read the case study “Wal-Mart Goes South” below and respond to the following questions: 1. How much of Wal-Mart’s success is due to NAFTA, and how much is due to Wal-Mart’s inherent competitive strategy? 2. How has the implementation of NAFTA affected Wal-Mart’s success in Mexico? 3. Faced with going out of business, what steps did Comerci take to remain competitive? What other steps do you think Comerci should take to secure its future and further compete with Wal-Mart’s operations in Mexico? APA format is required for text citations and references. You are expected to support your answer with: (1) the textbook “International business environments and operations (twelfth edition), Daniels, J. D., Radebaugh, L. H., & Sullivan, D. P. (2009). New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.”, and (2) news articles, internet articles, and academic source. WAL-MART GOES SOUTH Comercial Mexicana S.A. (Comerci), one of Mexico’s largest retail chains, is faced with a serious dilemma. Since Wal-Mart’s aggressive entry into the Mexican retail market, Comerci has found it increasingly difficult to remain competitive. Wal-Mart’s strong operating presence and low prices since NAFTA’s lifting of tariffs have put pressure on Comerci, and now management must determine if Comerci’s recent participation with the purchasing consortium Sinergia will be sufficient to compete against Wal-Mart. What’s caused this intense competitive pressure on Comerci, and what is likely to be its...
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