Problems at Wal-Mart March 28, 2007
Posted by collage9 in Retail.trackback
It was interesting to see that one of the world’s largest and most successful corporations is actually facing some difficulties. I feel like most people see Wal-Mart as untouchable, when in reality they are not immune from facing obstacles just like any other company. We all know about the company’s success in the U.S., where it currently operates 4,000 stores, but this can’t be said yet for their global operations. Recently, Wal-Mart actually pulled out of Germany and South Korea. In other important countries, such as China, Wal-Mart is behind in market share to European competitors like Tesco and Carrefour. They need to figure what appeals to each region they operate in and have to realize that what appeals to the American market won’t exactly translate well over seas. They are beginning to take some minor steps, such as putting live seafood in its 73 stores located in China.
It is essential to the company that they straighten out their foreign operations because they really don’t have any more room to grow in the US. They are concerned with stores taking sales from one another since there are so many throughout the country. In addition to this lack of space, sales growth at older stores (stores open at least a year) is actually behind that of its archrival, Target. They have been growing about 1 to 3 percent on average in the last 3 threes, compared to more than 5% previously. I’m not saying that Wal-Mart is in jeopordy by any means, just that it needs to take a closer look at and improve its global markets if it wants the continued growth it has experienced throughout its lifetime.
Speaking of not having any more room to grow in the U.S., today there was an article in the New York Times about Walmart failing to open a store in NYC. It is pretty much just the bigger cities that Walmart has not been able to open up shop in mostly because of unions. Plans for opening in big cities have fallen through because of intense union, community, and political opposition. It seems as though expansion is a major competitive advantage for Walmart. What is going to happen now that Walmart can’t expand much more? Will they face problems or will they remain untouched?
Personally, I live in NYC and I am happy that Walmart is not going to be able to open. The culture of Walmart is completely opposite of the culture of NYC. Walmart is all about cheap prices and dull merchandise whereas NYC is about excess and style. I think the opposition is doing Walmart a favor by not allowing them to open because chances are they wouldn’t do very well with the culture of the city.
I hear that cities are trying to ban Wal-Mart from entering because of strong opposition from the inhabitants. I agree with Kira about how Wal-Mart would detract from the city’s uniqueness. I think that they are going to have to find a new way to expand. They have mastered the way to control their stock and shipping lines. They need to use this competitive advantage and apply it to new business lines. Also, they need to be sensitive to the different cultures in different cultures such as China and Europe. If they are able to master the different needs of each country then they can take their competitive advantages and use them.
Wal-Mart is not about excess? What is excess?
Style= opposite of Wal-mart. Well… thats more defensible.
Whats good about this post:
Details! Pull-outs from countries. Growth rate. Target. (All Good stuff.)
What can be improved:
- Source various points. Where did you learn this?
- Tie in stock performance.
- Look for info about why they pulled out of those countries. Good place for a quotation.
- Deal with larger question of Wal-Mart and niche. Can it actually pursue a horizontal (more stores) growth strategy)?
- There are no fewer than five posts on our blog about this. You could have brought those in as relevant to enhance and expand dialog.
wowowwowow
Wal-Mart sucks and they are trying to take over the world
whasssssssss up shit faces!