Wal-Mart Case Study

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

By

Kyle

September 18, 2005

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats in the United States and Internationally. It has two segments: The Wal-Mart Stores and The Sam's Club. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States, as well as Walmart.com. It offers apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants. They also offer hardware, electronics, home furnishings, small appliances, automotive accessories, sporting goods, toys, pet food, cameras, health and beauty aids, pharmaceuticals, jewelry, optical department and photo processing services. The Neighborhood Markets include dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, general merchandise, and a pet supplies departments. The Sam's Club segment comprises the warehouse membership clubs in the United States and samsclub.com. It offers electronics, jewelry, sporting goods, toys, tires, books, grocery items, and selected private labels. As of July 31, 2005, Wal-Mart operated 1,276 Wal-Mart stores, 1,838 Supercenters, 92 Neighborhood Markets, and 556 Sam's Clubs in 50 states in the United States. The company operates various retail formats in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It operates 261 Canadian Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs, 11 units in Argentina, 150 units in Brazil, 88 units in Germany, 16 units in South Korea, 697 units in Mexico, 54 units in Puerto Rico, and 292 units in the United Kingdom, as well as 48 units in China under joint venture agreements.

Wal-Mart's vision statement is, "To become the worldwide leader in retailing". Sam Walton followed this statement to become the largest retailer in the United States. He accomplished this feat by understanding what the most important aspect in selling is, the customer.

Although Wal-Mart does not have a formal mission statement, listed below are their main components.

Mission Statement Components

* Customers

* Products and services

* Markets

* Technology

* Concern for survival, profitability, growth

* Philosophy

* Self-concept

* Concern for public image

* Concern for employees

Non-Formal Mission Statement

Our first responsibility is to provide all consumers the best products and services with guaranteed satisfaction under one roof. Wal-Mart provides a wide array of products and services at reasonable prices. We will continue to offer scholarships to deserving high-school graduates in hopes of providing students with a well-deserved education.

Consumers have been conveniently provided not only with the use of on-line shopping, but also with the concept of "one-stop shopping." The Wal-Mart team is devoted to everything that Wal-Mart has accomplished as a universal competitor. We are dedicated in recruiting, rewarding, and retaining employees of good moral standing by providing benefits for excellent performance, providing clean environments to work in, and by providing equal-opportunity for all individuals.

We will continue to offer the highest quality products at the lowest price to strive to be the best in the retail industry.

Wal-Mart has many opportunities that will make growth very possible. Technology from internet shopping to foreign markets will make Wal-Mart the retailer of the future.

Opportunities

* Consumers want ease of shopping

* Internet shopping growing

* Dollar value increasing

* Similar shopping patterns worldwide

* Retail sales expected to increase

* Environment conscious consumers

* Elderly population growing

* Asian market virtually untapped by retail

* European Market untapped by retail

Since Wal-Mart has already established itself in the market globally, there are only a few threats that Wal-Mart will be challenged with.

Threats

* Regulation of Wal-Mart pharmacies

* Small towns do not want entry of Wal-Mart

* Bad media exposure for Kathy Lee Brand

* Variety of competition nationally and locally

Wal-Mart has only a few large national retailers to compete with. K-mart, Sears, and Target are the main three. K-mart and Sears have been in the business for a long time but, they have struggled financially in the past years. Target has been on the rise in the last few years, but they are still far behind Wal-Mart. Below is a Competitive Profile Matrix which includes both internal and external issues; which refer to their strengths and weaknesses.

Wal-Mart K-Mart Sears

Critical Factors Weight Rating Weighted Score Rating Weighted Score Rating Weighted Score

Market Share 0.20 3.00 0.60 2.00 0.40 2.00 0.40

Price 0.30 4.00 1.20 2.00 0.60 1.00 0.30

Financial Position 0.10 4.00 0.40 2.00 0.20 2.00 0.20

Product Quality 0.20 2.00 0.40 2.00 0.40 3.00 0.60

Consumer Loyalty 0.20 2.00 0.40 2.00 0.40 2.00 0.40

Total 1.00 3.00 2.00 1.90

As you can see from the matrix, Wal-Mart has a significant financial, price and market share advantage over the competition.

Below is the External Evaluation Matrix which summarizes