Walmart Location Strategy: Walmart Uses An Outside Company

Walmartlocation Strategywalmart Uses An Outside Company That Helps The

Walmart uses an outside company that helps them locate and track their customers based on who has viewed their advertisements, where they had seen them, and how many times they viewed them. This helps the company build comprehensive audience segments. Walmart’s materials and goods are made available to the company’s target consumers through strategic warehouse locations. They have a comprehensive set of online information systems for real-time reports and monitoring in order to maximize the market reach. Walmart has been targeting urban areas for the construction of the Walmart Neighborhood Market. (Lutz) The store is similar to Whole Foods as it focuses on fresh foods.

In areas that are said to be “food deserts,” these neighborhood markets can capture large populations of consumers simply due to the location. Walmart uses the service location strategy for choosing store locations. This approach is popular among retailers because cost can be unpredictable, so they prioritize increasing revenues primarily and controlling costs secondarily. This strategy aligns with Walmart’s core values of customer satisfaction and understanding customer expectations from their brand and retail services.

Walmart has also implemented a new store layout style since 2017, focusing on technology-driven and sustainable changes. This new layout has been adopted in select stores, emphasizing consumer behavior analysis and corporate standards. The design aims to enhance shopping experiences based on insights into shopper behaviors, with an emphasis on convenience and efficiency. Walmart Neighborhood Markets are approximately 20% the size of Walmart Supercenters, focusing solely on food and produce, with promotional displays strategically placed at the front, end of aisles, and at eye level to encourage purchase.

For warehousing, Walmart uses a cross-docking layout, a logistics strategy that minimizes storage by directly transferring goods from suppliers to stores, ensuring products are available for sale immediately upon arrival. This process involves substantial space allocation for trucks and goods, focused on cost efficiency, operational effectiveness, and responsiveness to demand (Smithson, 2017).

Suggested improvements for Walmart include expanding the implementation of modernized layouts in high-traffic, high-revenue stores and converting more stores into full-fledged super-centers with extended operating hours to maximize resource utilization. Additionally, Walmart should consider placing Neighborhood Markets in rural areas to compete with local grocery stores, especially as competitors like Whole Foods have established strong customer loyalty in urban markets.

Furthermore, Walmart’s focus on online expansion is critical, but it should aim for a balanced approach that harmonizes physical and digital retail channels. Overextending into online markets without strengthening core stores can risk losing sight of customer loyalty. Maintaining their focus on the core customer base while expanding online will help Walmart sustain its competitive edge in both domains.

References

Barris, M. (n.d.). Walmart uses location-based targeting to create more accurate audience segments. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from https://www.example.com

Heizer, J. H., & Render, B. (2014). Principles of Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education Limited.

Lutz, A. (2014, August 15). These smaller Walmart stores could replace supercenters. Retrieved July 15, 2018, from https://www.example.com

Muench, J. (n.d.). A look inside Walmart's next-gen test stores. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from https://www.example.com

Smithson, N. (2017, January 28). Walmart: Operations Management 10 Decisions, Productivity. Retrieved from https://www.example.com