Have you ever competed with Wal-Mart?

Subject: Have you ever competed with Wal-Mart? Author: Hamilton

I've read what you've written about Wal-Mart. I wonder if you're not taking it seriously enough. People know that Wal-Mart has low prices and an easy return policy. It's hard to compete with these, plus one stop shopping.

Have you ever competed with Wal-Mart? The supercenters have groceries too.

Subject: Re: Have you ever competed with Wal-Mart? Author: Dennis S. Vogel

Hi:

First of all - No, I've never competed against Wal-Mart.

I worked for W-M for almost 10 years, I started out in a small store in Nebraska. Then I transferred to a bigger store when I moved back to Wisconsin.

On the subject of the easy return policy.
Keep a few things in mind -
1) In many cases, people found the products without any help from a W-M employee.
2) They stood in line waiting to pay for the products.
3) Then they probably wait in line at the service desk to return the products.

These three may be easy, but they're not convenient.

What I'm about to write is something that's not well-known and the facts vary from situation to situation.

Because of W-M's size, it controls most, if not all of its supply chains. This allows it set prices. W-M buyers tell manufacturers what W-M will pay for a product. (W-M also puts other pressures on manufacturers.) So, the manufacturers have some choices.
They can -
1) Tell W-M where to stick it.
2) Achieve economies of scale that let them make a lot of products at increasingly lower costs.
3) Use cheaper materials and labor.

Do you think that those accusations of W-M buying products made in foreign sweat shops is pure fiction?

Maybe W-M executives didn't know about the sweat shops, but some people will have things made that way so they can afford to charge W-M what W-M is willing to pay.

I don't know which manufacturers choose which option(s). However, what I've seen at both W-M stores I've worked in is there are shopping carts full of products that customers had returned. This happened regularly, not just in January when people returned Christmas presents.

There had been, and probably still are, literally pallets of defective products that are kept until a truck comes to pick them up.

If you know somebody who works at the W-M store closest to you, ask about this? Why? Because I think it's significant.

The questions that comes to my mind are -
1) Does W-M return so many defective products because there's a certain percentage of products that are defective no matter who sells them?
2) Or is it because W-M forces manufacturers to cut production costs?

So, let's tie this all together. You can use facts about W-M inconvenience to show how it's easier to do business with you despite the one-stop shopping of W-M stores and its supercenters. If you'd want to use W-M's lack of quality as a marketing focus, then gather facts. W-M may threaten you with legal action but if what you publish is true and a lawyer will back you, call their bluff.

W-M could try to force me to remove and retract things I've written about it. If it did, I'd tell it, go for it. I'd contact the press and the reporters would jump in and investigate. W-M would hurt itself with the bad publicity more than I ever could.

It's major competitors would probably join in, too, like sharks sensing blood in the ocean. Small retailers would probably band together and join the fight too.

It may sound gross or overly macho but it almost applies to this discussion. If an enemy can bleed and it's bones can break, it isn't invincible.

But back to your situation - To be specific, I'd have to know more about your business and target market.

If your target market consists of retired and unemployed people who have little money but a lot of time, you won't win. If your target market consists of people with discretionary income and little spare time, then focus on them.

Very few businesses are going to sell to "everybody." Not even W-M gets "everybody." W-M has weaknesses, you may just end up shining a bright light on them. Just don't base your whole marketing program on W-M's weaknesses, show your own strengths too.

I read an article about the lack of customer service lately. The author wrote that Wal-Mart puts a whole downtown under one roof. He probably wrote that for convenience instead of writing the exact situation.

Just as an example, in the retail sector, the downtown where I live has businesses that offer what W-M doesn't -
-Tailored-made formal wear
-Gourmet candy
-Video tape rental
-High quality upscale men's and women's clothing
-Decorative wind socks and fancy kites
-High quality electronic products
-Service-oriented restaurants (not just a snack bar)
-Computer sales and SERVICE
-Antiques
-High quality upscale gifts
-A pharmacy that delivers prescriptions
-High quality home furnishings not just cheap particle board products that fall apart
-Spas
-Complete lines of auto parts with knowledgeable staff

And these are besides the other businesses.

A downtown or even an individual business can sell things that Wal-Mart would never sell. Why would W-M sell some things?

Because W-M stores will only sell (continually stock) products that thousands of people will buy.

If you have a local target market of 600 people who buy often, you may be to stay in business. That won't work in W-M stores except in the electronics department, if even there.

In other words, if a small business were to sell 1,000 bottles of shampoo in a week, it probably couldn't keep the shelves stocked. If a W-M store failed to sell 1,000 bottles of shampoo in a week for a period of 6 months, it'd probably discontinue shampoo sales.

Just one more point.

Have you seen any handicapped people achieve a lot of things? (The stories are available to read in some magazines.)

How do you think they do that?
Do they do it by concentrating on what they can't do?
No, They focus on what they can do.

My advice for you and others reading this is - Develop your strengths, find somebody to compensate for your weaknesses. (We all have some.) Focus on things that you do well and others are willing and able to pay you for. Market it well and W-M won't be able to stop you!

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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