Assignment 3 - Wal Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue.

The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business.^[2] It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart)


Main Products:"The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from your point of view as a customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good-quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience."
- Sam Walton (1918-1992)
http://www.walmart.com/cp/An-Introduction-to-Walmart.com/542413
As stated above, Walmart carries everything from clothing to tires, lawn mowers to bananas.
It has grown over the years into a "supercentre" which is comprised of a grocery store, book store, restaurants, (Tim Horton's and Mcdonald's) photo lab, and in some stores, even a spa. Indeed, it is a one stop shop like no other.
Walmart's Target Market:Walmart targets all market segments that are lower-middle class. However, with the recent economic recession, Walmart has been working to cater to middle and upper-middle class people as-well. http://snippets.com/who-and-what-is-wal-marts-target-market.htm
Pricing:Walmart boasts of offering the lowest prices available to consumers today. It offers "every day low prices" and prices vary by product, but remain low for the product itself.
Books in the Walmart bookstore are always 30% off the regular Canadian cover price.
Fixed Costs:
Buildings
Labour
Plant for Walmart brand food
Variable Costs
Future costs
Strongest Competitors
Walmart has few strong competitors as it dominates the market it is in. Possible contendors are Target and Zellers.
Possible Weakness of Walmart:

Walmart Weankesses:

Wal-Mart is the World's largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control.
Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors (such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors.
The company is global, but has has a presence in relatively few countries Worldwide. http://www.marketingteacher.com/swot/walmart-swot.htmlWalmart Strengths:

• Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store.
• Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion (for example its purchase of the United Kingdom based retailer ASDA).

• The company has a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics system. For example, it can see how individual products are performing country-wide, store-by-store at a glance. IT also supports Wal-Mart's efficient procurement.
• A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to Wal-Mart's business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them.

http://www.marketingteacher.com/swot/walmart-swot.html

Walmart has proven to be am industry leader.