Swot Analysis : Walmart And Amazon

Amazon believes in keeping its marketing plan simple in order to be effective. Consequently, their marketing plan is based upon the 4 P’s (product, price, place, and promotion). Amazon’s product is to provide an unparalleled selection of any item that exists on the planet. Its prices are extremely competitive and often lower than traditional stores and it is more convenient for people to shop on the internet (place) than it is in a physical location. Finally, its promotion emphasizes big ideas, innovation, technology, and customer centricity, enabling it to market itself as the most convenient place for consumers to shop and satisfy their needs (Kerin & Hartley, 2015). This strategy targets

Amazon.com has successfully managed to make its customers to feel that anything they could possibly want could be found on their website. Additionally, its products are marketed at a competitive price. Another important factor is their speedy delivery with their usage of UPS and FedEx (United States) and Royal Mail (United Kingdom). The company also caters for people that prefer online shopping with extra services such as Amazon Prime - a service with a yearly payment, customers are eligible for free next day delivery. Even though Amazon.com is known to be an online seller of most things, it still excels in its original market of book selling. Evidence of such is

Both Amazon and Walmart are seeking to accomplish the same goal, to become the world’s largest retailer by providing customers with a seamless shopping experience. Both companies have their own strengths, with Amazon being the leader in the online retail space, while Walmart is the clear leader in the brick-and-mortar arena. As more online and brick-and-mortar retailers are eating into the market, both Amazon and Walmart must content with other companies as well as each other. Amazon and Walmart were both created and detonated extraordinary growth due to an innovative push unlike any other in their own respective arenas. “If either Amazon or Walmart is destined to come out on top, it must come from a massive innovation push, a willingness to

Since 1962 and the beginning of the discount retailer market Wal-Mart has been ahead of the retail game. By 1967 there were 24 Wal-Marts that had grossed 12.6 million dollars. In just 7 years Wal-mart had spread into 9 states. By 1979 Wal-Mart was the fastest store to reach a billion dollars in sales. In 2005 Wal-Mart has 3,800 domestic stores along with 3,800 stores internationally, and had made over 312 billion dollars. As you can see the Wal-Mart empire has grown monumentally. To move into this segment of the market would be tough.

) success is the stuff of legend.But there is no mystique at the core of its mammoth success. WalMart 's ability to provide customers with "everyday low prices" and its presence as an economic and political force of gigantic size and influence, is the result of a process that was built on some core principles and procedures. Looking at Walmart 's history and present operations helps investors understand the methodology that enables this sizeable chain to do what it 's known to do best – sell cheap. (For a background on retail operations, see: The Industry Handbook: The Retailing Industry.)

When it comes to retail giants, Walmart stands tallest by a very large margin. In fact, Walmart’s retail sales more than tripled their closest competitor in 2015 (“STORES top retailers 2016,” 2016). Walmart has consistently used the same marketing strategy for many years. Their “Everyday Low Price” strategy is a well-known advertisement moniker and has driven repeat sales to customers for years (Ferguson, 2015). Another familiar sign

Wal-Mart Stores are an irresistible (or at least unavoidable) retail force that has yet to meet any immovable objects. They follow three pricing philosophies: Every Day Low Prices, Rollback, and Special Buy. Bigger than Carrefour, Royal Ahold, and Kroger combined, it is the world's #1 retailer, with more than 4,500 stores, including discount stores (Wal-Mart), combination discount and grocery stores (Wal-Mart Supercenters), and membership-only warehouse stores (Sam’s). Most of its stores are in the US, but Wal-Mart is expanding internationally; it is the #1 retailer in Canada and Mexico. Wal-Mart also has

Wal-Mart has grown into one of the largest discount retail stores in the world and has proven that the type of operation that they have is successful and effective. Although they are the industry leader, in the recent years their sales growth rate has not experienced such of an increase. The decrease of the slowing growth rate from their previous double-digit growth has begun to develop problems and serious concern for the company. They are now faced with the attempt to understand the symptoms and causes of the problem and how to regain their growth strength.

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retail and departmental store chain. Having business operations in 27 countries with 69 different brand names, Wal-Mart is able to serve a huge number of customers per day. Wal-Mart is the fastest growing and the most successful retail brand in the world. The factors which make it the strongest brand in its industry include large customer base, sound financial strength, strong brand image, and huge supply chain network. Wal-Mart has certain weaknesses in its operations and business setup like low acceptability of certain products, high employee turnover, and less recognition of newly introduced brands. These weaknesses can be overcome by availing attractive opportunities from the market and investing more in the most profitable areas. Wal-Mart faces the biggest threat from its competitors and ever-changing customer preferences.

Wal-Mart is the number one retailer in the world in both sales and earnings, dwarfing many of its retail competitors. It offers a full assortment of products ranging from clothing to electronics. It currently has 6000 locations predominately within the United States with over $312.4 Billion in net sales during 2006. In addition to its strong domestic presence, Wal-Mart has expanded aggressively to Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico with over 1000 locations within those countries. This expansion can potentially create greater economies of scale for Wal-Mart services and merchandise. The synergies created by expansion will also drive profitability in the future by providing goods and services at even lower costs to consumers. In order to enter foreign markets successful, Wal-Mart engages in both joint ventures and acquisitions. By utilizing this method, Wal-Mart intends to leverage foreign retailer's market knowledge with its own core competencies of merchandising and supply chain management (Stilgoe, 2003).

As discussed in the case study, the advertising and marketing strategy of Amazon have been focusing on how the products would gain interest from their target market and how they can be able to generate sales with their products. This is Amazon’s stronghold where it continues to yield strong sales revenue by leveraging off its excellent online shop in different locations, such as in UK and other country, strong brand name and excellent reputation among customers. Amazon has also been continuing to create affiliate websites to expand their business market among various consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis and evaluation of the two retail conglomerates: Amazon and Walmart. Their operational strategy relative to customer value proposition was thoroughly examined to assist in measuring market and operational performance and overall financial health of the companies. Subsequently, the following findings on the two companies will also be presented: a) value proposition b) alignment of operational strategy to value proposition, c) matching products, markets and strategies, d). Procurement methods, e). Risk management, f). Information systems and management, g). Operational excellence, h). Operational flexibility, i). Sustainability and j). Resiliency. The cumulative results of the analysis reveals that Amazon is the clear winner over a 10-year financial investment horizon. They manage their operation relative to their customer value proposition effectively which in turn has had a positive effect on their overall financial health. As of this year, their stocks and market capitalization is worth more than Walmart, Costco, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s combined (Bukhari, 2017). It is not the largest retailer in the

Wal-Mart’s founder Sam Walton had an idea to save customer’s money by keeping sales prices lower than many of his competitors. Mr. Walton’s goal was accomplished by reducing his profit margin and now, Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest company, in terms of returns. According to Datamonitor (2012) recorded revenues of $421,849 million was Wal-Mart’s income in 2011, an increase of 3.4% over 2010. The operating profit of the company was $25,542 million in 2011, an increase of 6.4% over 2010 (Datamonitor 2012). Wal-Mart’s mission statement was to “help people save money, so they can live better”. (Wal-Mart’s

Price has always been the key strategy in Wal-Mart’s marketing strategy. The success of Wal-Mart’s low price philosophy and marketing campaigns has been instrumental to the company’s success in the past half century. It is clear that from Sam Walton’s first store in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1950 to the 6200 stores worldwide as of 2006, Wal-Mart has utilized the price strategy of the marketing mix to become one of the most successful companies in

Wal-Mart is a company which operates in the service sector, more specifically in the “Discount, Variety Stores/Retail” industry. The company’s superior performance is demonstrated through the fact that it was America’s largest company (in terms of revenue) in 2002, and the reputation of the company is reflected in the opinion of “Fortune” who have identified Wal-Mart as one of the world’s most admired companies. In 2004 Wal-Mart had been hiring 1.4 million employees – making it the largest corporation in the world. Wal-Mart’s share prices have also been stable at time of stock market volatility. There are