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Wal-mart Marketing Strategy Through Time
Posted By: Thomas* on 5/23/2004 6:30 PM (CST) 125 Points
I'm doing an MBA at the Paris Graduate School of Management and in our class Marketing Strategy we are to do a presentation about the marketing strategy of a company. We have chosen Wal-Mart as our subject.

I've been looking around for what kind of marketing strategy Wal-Mart has driven through time but havent really been able to find the good information on it. Anybody have any good links to give me or other knowledge?

I appreciate it and thanks in advance!

Thomas

Posted by: mbarber Accepted Answer
5/23/2004 8:48 PM (CST)
Gidday Thomas - Wal Mart's position starts at two ends of the spectrum - make as many things as widely available to as many people as possible with small margins. So big turn over nets big profits but ots of sales need to be made to get that profit.

Next, because you have so many customers, SQUEEZE the life out of your suppliers - get them to give you even cheaper wholesale rates and advertising support - make them carry the cost of distribution and warehousing, force them to meet your IT needs. This reduces your own costs whilst forcing your suppliers to carry the can - the end result - greater margins for you.

Next, deny access to new suppliers who don't give you an even better wholesale rate. But keep them interested enough so that when one of your current suppliers goes out of business because you have milked them dry and they go bankrupt, you'll have a new supplier ready to step into the grave.

Its not a very wholesome way of doing business, essentially being more parasitical than participative but it works.
 
Posted by: bko23* Accepted Answer
5/23/2004 10:53 PM (CST)
I think you could look at the three value disciplines of a company.

1. Customer Intimacy
2. Product Leadership
3. Operational Excellence

Wal-Mart excels at operations and execution often by providing a reasonable quality at a very low price. The focus is on efficiency, streamlining operations, Supply Chain Management, no-frills, volume counts. Wal-Mart also maintains status quo with the other two disciplines by offering innovative (new to market products - walmart.com, now selling music on-line similar to itunes) and good, not great (Great=Nordstrom, Home Depot)customer service.
 
Posted by: laqa11* Accepted Answer
5/24/2004 4:21 AM (CST)
Adding to the answers above, Wal-Mart strategy has been since the beginning:

We do not sell articles to our customers, but instead, we buy articles for our customers.
 
Posted by: Thomas* Author Response
5/24/2004 4:55 PM (CST)
Hi again!

mbarber:
Yes, I agree. Wal-Mart's strategy is maybe one of the most agressive and ruthless that we have seen on this planet. It's actually hard to find an article that isn't sceptical to the way Wal-Mart do business, or right-out criticism of their model.

On the other hand FORTUNE 500 ranked Wal-Mart as no.1 in their listing, and FORTUNE Magazine named Wal-Mart the most admired company in America. Pretty amazing achievement for a company so controversial. I do wonder how they got to that result.

If we also take a look at Wal-Mart's website they also seem like busy little bees with their concern about being a "good neighbor" with their "good works."program.

In our meeting today, considering what we have found and your answers, our approach will be to connect Wal-Mart's core value disciplines (thanks bko23) as it seems rather central and connect that to the 4 P's of marketing.
And your answer laqa11 catches the essence of their strategy. Thanks!


We did find it rather important to make a point out of the controversial issues surrounding Wal-Mart's agressive behaviour and treatment of for example people (employees formost). Wal-Mart's strategy might be successful, but its clearly on some points not so ethical and reducing people's choice. And we can speculate if this behaviour will backfire in a larger degree if they continue this strategy.

Thanks alot for your answers!

Some links can be found underneath for those who are interested.

Thomas

Wal around the world
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=895888

From Wild West to Wal-Mart
http://www.bain.com/bainweb/publications/printer_ready.asp?id=16282

Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?
http://www.businessweek.com:/print/magazine/content/03_40/b3852001_mz001.ht...

How big can it grow?
http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2593089

Safeway? It's a week's takings for Wal-Mart
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4586461-102271,00.html

Wal-Mart Timeline
http://www.walmartstores.com/wmstore/wmstores/Mainnews.jsp?pagetype=news&ca...

In Europe, Wal-Mart Pursues a Big Dream
http://www.iht.com/IHT/JS/98/js121098.html

Is Wal-Mart getting it wrong?
http://www.thisismoney.com/20001001/nm21457.html

Wal-Mart Strategy Works Worldwide
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n18/WalMartStrategy-en.sht...

information on wal mart
http://www.hoovers.com/wal-mart/--ID__11600--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml


How Wal-Mart is remaking our world
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12962


The Wal-Mart You Don’t know
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

Wal-mart’s marketing strategy: Only pretending to care
http://www.thesentimentalist.com/archives/000049.html

Wal_mart Follows the Netflix model
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57395-2003Jun13.html

Wal-Mart Watch
http://www.walmartwatch.com/

Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart’s Mega-Growth Continues, But is its image getting a bit tarnished?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=965
 
Posted by: aosterday* Member Response
5/24/2004 5:40 PM (CST)
Walmart has targeted every American in the middle of the country. The majority of Americans live in small towns with no big corporations, no big opportunities. So Wal-Mart is like their God. They LOVE Wal-Mart. They did not try to be sheik and cosmopolitan. They tried to be country bumpkin, average joe, and appealled to the forgotten majority.
 
Posted by: lucass* Member Response
5/27/2004 10:22 AM (CST)
Another powerful part of the Wal-Mart market strategy is their use of information. They match the inventory of the store with the preferences of the customers by analyzing every sale. They look at sales volume, inventory turnover, packaging, price points, and a many other variables by product or group of products to create a profile of the buying habits of the customers at the store/site level.
 


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