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Wal-Mart opened in 1962 by Sam Walton and has become the largest retailer in the United States, and with over 3,900 stores Wal-Mart is still very successful. ... ” This statement by Glass shows that Wal-Mart has devised a plan striving to maintain its high ranking in the retail business. The new question is, can Wal-Mart continue to expand and succeed in an increasingly competitive retail environment?
Wal-Mart has distinctive competencies in that it has a mission to provide low prices but at the same time provide friendly service as shown with their people-greeters. This means that Wal-Mart has an advantage over the firms that don’t concentrate on customer satisfaction. Since Wal-Mart uses a cost-leadership business-level strategy, this inherently gives Wal-Mart some advantages against its competition. Wal-Mart is somewhat protected from industry competitors by its cost advantage. Wal-Mart uses a Just-in-time type inventory system. ... This guarantees merchandise in stock and reduces theft in Wal-Mart stores.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
People first philosophy
Low prices
Known for customer responsiveness
Aggressive growth strategy
Sells wide array of affordable merchandise
Dedicated and positive employee base
Warmer feeling store compared to competitors
Balance between low price and not “cheap” feel
Customer perceived value in shopping at Wal-Mart
Socially active and involved in community functions
Higher bargaining power over suppliers
Highly sophisticated and effective inventory control system
Weaknesses
Stores never have special promotions
Economic uncertainty hurts retail sales
Small communities resistant to Wal-Mart taking over at the loss of local merchants
Opportunities
Continued growth potential
Competitors are going out of business
Online sales may increase with popularity of Internet shopping
New store locations in U.
Approximate Word count = 1027
Approximate Pages = 4.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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