Wal-Mart’s Supermarket Endeavor
The history of how customers find and purchase good and services has developed and redeveloped since the time of the traveling salesman. To get a greater pool of customers and expand into new markets, companies have had to change their way of thinking and not let the comfort of the “status quo” dictate their next business strategy. From the traveling salesman, to department stores, to giant warehouse outlet stores, companies have always tried to forecast new channels to get their products to the customer, faster, cheaper, and better. In 1962, a gentleman from Arkansas had an idea of how to provide goods and services to the public with that philosophy. To this day, the Wal-Mart dynasty is continuing on the course Sam Walton prescribed when he opened his first store.But can a company that built it’s empire on three simple principles; 1. Customer value and service; 2. Partnership with its associates; 3. Community involvement; survive an expansion strategy that will bring them from the world's largest discount retailer, to the world largest discount grocery store. Using Porter’s five forces model, we will be able to see the difficulties Wal-Mart might encounter as it makes the supermarket industry the battleground for i
The threat of substitutes is of grave concern when a powerhouse company like Wal-Mart decides to enter this market with lower prices and better service. Attracting market share is a potential problem reducing your volume of customers and sales. Brand loyalty, customer relations, and the relative price for performance will dictate these results. New entrants to the supermarket industry are always a threat to the already established supermarkets stores. Yet until now, the bigger you were, the longer you could survive without changing your method of operation. Wal-Marts already established name, as a “discounter”, will help change major determinants to this market environment. The cost to entry is minimal. By maintaining their already operating distribution channels, bring along their customer loyalty, and using their same cost advantages of “automatic replenishment”, Wal-Mart can and does cut out several middle men and pass their savings to the public. Customers, themselves, can also determine the margin a company is willing to take in maintaining profits while still supplying the customer great value. Wal-Mart again has that in place. They can and do buy in high volume and pass that on to customers. What does this all mean to th
Some topics in this essay:
Using Porter’s,
,
Sam Walton,
supermarket industry,
provide services,
customer value,
traveling salesman,
lower prices,
prices service,
largest discount,
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Approximate Word count = 850
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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