Walmart Competitive Analysis

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.

Having strong presence in the retail industry, the firm expanded business to offer second hand car. The firm leverage on its competencies to provide its own product to consumer. Also, Wal-Mart works heavily with its suppliers. This symbiotic relationship can be seen as vertical integration due to the level at which Wal-Mart analyses its suppliers and improves their manufacturing processes. Wal-Mart definitely has the business strategy of Low Cost Leadership. They do nothing to really differentiate themselves from competitors and provide no-frills self-service stores that always provide the lowest prices. Wal-Mart has built enough clout with suppliers that they can dictate the prices and go in and change suppliers manufacturing processes in order to wring out more and more savings for the consumer.

Wal-Mart has been successful in becoming the number one retailer. Purchasing items in large quantities is effective in lowering the prices for the consumers. Lower prices bring the customers in the doors which in turns sells the large scale of purchasing that Wal-Mart does. With the large scale of purchasing brings a cost advantage. This cost advantage is passed onto the customer.

Walmart is an organization that uses analytics extensively and systematically to outthink and execute the competition. Walmart has gained competitive advantage by following four pillars of analytical competition. These are;

WalMart is the worlds' largest retailer, over the last five years (2007 - 2011) the firm has gown and increased in size, but the firm has also faced challenges. Looking at the performance of the firm over this period it is possible to consider the way that the firm has evolved and consider the influences that have impacted on the firms' results as well as the way it has responded.

In a society that has seen such a drastic downturn in the economy, people are searching for the best possible bargains they can find. People across the United States are looking for ways to save money; thus, searching for stores that will provide them with everything they need at a lower cost. Companies all over the United States are fighting to stay competitive and are seeking ways to restructure their company and still provide for consumers the best possible prices. Companies such as Wal-Mart do not have to change their structure to fit the demands of consumers because it already offers its customers brand name items

Retailers provide many case studies in capabilities-driven success, one of the most compelling of which is the big discounter triad of Walmart, Target and Kmart. And in this fourth-quarter retail season, we thought it would be helpful to take a closer look at what really distinguishes these competitors because they provide valuable insight into the key components of a winning corporate strategy.

This pattern of growth, allowing it to build market share and secure volume advantages quickly, through large expenditures on warehouses, is also evident in the manner in which Wal-Mart built its stores. Wal-Mart stores were initially built of a smaller average size than its direct competitors and only if there was space in the location for future expansion; this increased Wal-Mart’s flexibility and it helped reduce unnecessary costs, as indicated by Wal-Marts lower proportion of rental expense and its significantly higher sales per square foot. Indeed, this is just one manner in which Wal-Mart, unusually for a service industry, was able to create a real competitive advantage. However, because this advantage is clearly imitable Wal-Mart has been aggressive in maintaining its technological lead.

Evidently, Wal-Mart is not doing anything to differentiate itself from rivals. It gives no frills to self-service outlets always providing the cheapest prices. Through a well-built influence with suppliers, the company has gained the power to manipulate prices and amend manufacturing procedures thus wringing out more savings for its customers. All that the company does from the frequent calls to suppliers to doubling up execs in hotel rooms aimed at saving the

On the positive front, Wal-Mart has over the years been applauded for a number of strategies responsible for the competitive edge the corporation enjoys over its competitors. The history of the

) 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.)

Wal-Mart is one of the most successful retailers in the world (Wal-Mart corporate 2012). Currently, there

Wal-Mart’s sheer size gives it unrestrained economic power which allows it to drive down costs in the retail and manufacturing sectors and to enact its own standards with regards to its work force.

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.

Ans:Wal-Mart,Inc runs a chain of large, discount department stores.it is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue. Walmart is the largest private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Walmart is one of the best known industries all over the world. Its concentration of a single business strategy is the basis of its success over the decades by this strategy without having to rely upon diversification to sustain its growth and competitive advantage. The leading marketing strategies of Wal-Mart are low prices, service and smile. However by adapting this strategy, it has risked itself by putting all of a company’s egg in one industry basket. While its global strategy worked elsewhere, the results were bad in Germany and Korea that Wal-Mart withdrew from those countries.