Walmart Questions (Day 1) 2024/25

Walmart Questions (Day 1) 2024/25 How would you characterize the industry structure of discount retailing? - low margins, bare bones, self service How favorable is the structure of this industry? Explain. Favorable - Can operate on a bare bones level, customer self service as they are more informed. No need to to invest in a high quality atmosphere - Do not need to spend on employee training (can pay lower wages) Identify Walmart's early strategy and explain how/why it enabled Wal -Mart to be so successful in discount retailing Walmart Strategy - target areas of low competition (sm rural towns) ... customers can "shop at home" - customer loyalty and tech advances allowed walmart to identify, monitor, track and trait - tech superiority - Low price s lead to high volumes of sales which leads to lots of data - Sam Walton's leadership style -Buy American initiatives -Private label brands lead to higher margins -built loyalty and created a walmart culture that attracted employees and retained talent Historically, what have been Wal -Mart's key sources of competitive advantage? - Sam Walton's vision/leadership - Low prices, refunds polices - Tech superiority (data) - Lean operations, low cost on operations and distribution -Decentralized management How has Walmart operated differently from its rivals? - Distribution efficiency (lower costs on distribution). Cross docking - Lower advertising expenses - No sales/ads "low prices all the time" so that they can focus on efficiency - More competitive pricing How sustainable are Wal -Mart's competitive advantages? - decentralized management (sustainable) - Satisfaction guarantee (sustainable) - Distribution channel efficiencies (sustainable) - Vendor Relationships (sustainable) - Land ownership -tech superiorit y (not sustainable as tech always changing) Where is Wal -mart's advantage most sustainable? What are the bases of sustainability? - Distribution network (warehouses), rural areas