Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. The Organization in brief
Walmart corporation is a US based company that consist of three business units; Walmart US, Walmart International and Sam’s Club. At the end of 2013, the company had 4,835 outlets (4,203 for Walmart US and for 632 Sam’s Club) in North America alone. (Walmart, 2014).
The company mission statement is “We save people money so they can live better” and is currently the largest retailer in the world (Fortune 500, 2014) with more than $476.3 billion in annual sales in 2014. (Walmart, 2014).
It sells several products ranging from food, house hold items to electronics. This paper will attempt to develop a three year marketing plan for one of Walmart product- 50 inch Samsung Flat Screen Smart TV.
1.2. Target Market
The company operates on a global scale and therefore the target market for flat screen TV can be many, ranging from homes, schools or offices, etc in a small town to a chain of hotel in an entire state or continent. However, the target market for this marketing plan will be home owners in the state of North Carolina in the USA.
The ultimate goal is to have at least 9% of the target market to buy one TV during the three year campaign period, resulting to the selling of 223,034 units of TV.
1.3. Triple Bottom Line
The triple bottom line calls for a balance between financial (Profit) interest with social (People) and environment (Planet) concerns. Pursuing profit at the expense of societal and environmental
Wal-Mart is a brand that is well known around the world, especially in the USA. It has gradually developed into the largest retailer in the world. Wal-Mart’s globalization efforts have been happening rapidly. But have they been successful in all aspects of their international expansion or not? This is the main thought that is going to be discussed in this essay. The questions I will be looking at are based on a case called “Wal-Mart takes on the world” from the book of International Business The Challenge of Global Competition eleventh edition – Ball, McCulloch, Geringer, Minor, and McNett. Questions are the following:
WalMart continues to have one of the most customer-centric mission statements of all discount retailers globally. Their mission statement is as follows "we save people money so they can live better" (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2013). From the first
The purpose of this business report is to gain familiarity with Wal-Mart and to learn about the different aspects that make Wal-Mart a successful company. This report gives an in-depth analysis of the company history, services and products provided, the company philosophy, business methods, organizational structure, and financial and competitive analysis.
A triple bottom line model never merely quantifies an accomplishment or rather the wellbeing of a company through its conventional monetary bottom line. However, triple bottom line similarly measures social, ethical as well as environment performance of the company. Triple bottom line typically is an incessant process that shall assist the company in concentrating into the performance of a more sustainable business whereas demonstrating to local communities together with employees of that particular firm that is not merely looking forward on profit making, but similarly a greater common good for the company operations (Hitchcock and Willard, 2009).
They also decreased the prices of healthy foods to encourage customer to purchase them. Wal-Mart also developed a seal to place on healthier foods with nutrition information rating the levels of sodium, fat, and sugar content (“Paymar Communications”, 2010). The leading factor in Wal-Mart taking this initiative was to reach customers with an interest in a healthy lifestyle. With obesity on the rise across the nation people are becoming more conscious about what they eat and offering healthier foods, organic products, and enhanced labels on the foods will give the customer more options to choose from within the store. By reducing the prices of these healthy products Wal-Mart can increase their customer base, specifically those with an interest in a pursuing a healthy life style. Additionally this will ensure Wal-Mart is leading their competition and could be the benchmark for such companies as Target, K-Mart, Sears, and Costco. The factors influencing the organizations strategies are contingent on the need, not only of the customers, but also Wal-Mart’s increase in sales and profitability. Wal-Mart wants to ensure they not only have healthy customers but also that the organization will garner major gains in sales from these changes. The “Paymar Communications” (2010) website also states that through forging these initiatives, Wal-Mart has figured out a formula to be a good corporate citizen, give consumers superior bargains and still make tons of money; $14.3 billion in
Wal-Mart is one of the most successful retailers in the world (Wal-Mart corporate 2012). Currently, there
With around 5000 retail outlets worldwide, operating in more then a dozen countries and with over US$286 billion in annual sales, Wal-Mart is the top retail chain and number one fortune 500 company in the world. Wal-Mart is the top employer in the U.S. with 1.3 million employees, “the company accounts for 9 cents of every US retail dollar and sells around 20 per cent of the nation’s groceries and pharmaceuticals.” (Times News Network).
by taking actions other than reducing consumer transaction costs and through devising new products and services. Wal-Mart.com will offer products from all 25 categories you can find in a regular Wal-Mart store. To create additional value, it will offer a richer choice of high quality products, for example DVD players and cameras. But not only will it offer these higher-priced items, it will also offer them as complements, which means that Wal-Mart.com for example will sell DVD players with a set of the latest DVDs.
A triple bottom line model never merely quantifies an accomplishment or rather the wellbeing of a company through its conventional monetary bottom line. However, triple bottom line similarly measures social, ethical as well as environment performance of the company. Triple bottom line typically is an incessant process that shall assist the company in concentrating into the performance of a more sustainable business whereas demonstrating to local communities together with employees of that particular firm that is not merely looking forward on profit making, but similarly a greater common good for the company operations (Hitchcock and Willard, 2009).
(Wal-Mart, 2005) Wal-Mart treats each of its different divisions as separate companies. The Wal-Mart Corporation consists of Wal-Mart stores, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart International, and Walmart.com. Each of these entities is a separate company that is not dependent on the other. As such the success of the initial start up of the companies is not based on how well or poorly the corporation is doing.
Wal-Mart is the highest revenue generating organisation in the world (Forbes, 2014). According to WalMart’s annual report (2014), the company owns 6,100 stores in 27 countries. It employees 2.2 million
Beginning with the triple bottom line approach, we see this phenomenon discards the notion of top-line revenue/bottom-line profit and loss, we see companies are responsible for three bottom lines: people, planet and profit. Triple bottom line companies are responsibly sustainable; they benefit the communities, facilitate the development of better products and services, and contribute to society. The question now becomes why not every company is adjusting their business model to the triple bottom line. Companies like Patagonia are onboard with this idea and they have been very profitable and highly regarded on Wall Street.
To have a successful product or service there needs to be a solid marketing plan. To create a market plan one needs to understand what marketing is. “Marketing is the performance of activities that seek to accomplish an organization’s objectives by anticipating customer or client needs and directing a flow of need-satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or client” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2009, p. 6). Team B has decided to create a marketing plan for a new service that will be put inside of Wal-Mart Supercenters. The service will be a childcare center called Drop and Shop. Parents can drop their children off in the center while they go do their
TV ADVERTISING; IKEA uses television to advertise; A 30 second commercial running on cable and network for six months. Tv advertising will be allocated $5M. This 30-second advertising commercial will be able to reach the target the target audience and set the tone for the rest of the marcom promotions. televise media is a great catalyst in producing impetus for the IKEA brand and social/digital will be able to gain from this investment.
Inside the front doors of a grocery store, customers are presented with a diverse, vibrant display of fresh fruits and vegetables. With its inviting rainbow of bright colors, the produce section leads past the wafting, sweets smells of bread and pastries in the bakery and through winding aisles stocked with an assortment of goods. Linings the aisles and fillings shelves are rows and rows of boxes of pasta, pre-made meals, processed foods, and more snacks and sweets than one would know what to do with. Grocery stores present shoppers with a myriad of choices. The shelves and displays are filled with a variety of different brands and options to choose from, which offers customers a tough and potentially stressful decision when shopping. However, before a customer decides upon a specific brand or item, whether that happens to be a name-brand product, competitor, or store-brand, they are faced with an even more important choice; they must first make a decision on whether they want to buy whole foods and produce, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy choices, or more processed “junk” foods like sugary drinks and snacks or enriched breads and pasta. Not only must costumers decide between specific brands and deals, but they must also choose which of these types of food is best for them and their interests. Consumers must constantly weigh the different factors that are presented when comparing foods; between price, ingredients, health, availability, and overall