Do some research and with your OWN words ( do NOT copy/paste from the internet)

Question

Do some research and with your OWN words ( do NOT copy/paste from the internet) answer the next questions. Also attached the sources where you find this information.

Major Competitors of WALMART :

a) Who are they?

b) What is the market share for the major competitors?

c) Describe the basis on which the firms in the industry compete(e.g., product quality, service, or price?)

Key industry trends of WALMART:

a) Describe which trends (for example: economic, technological, political, regulatory, and/ or social) affect industry performance and competition.

This is for a Business Writing class, thank you!

Explanation / Answer

I will give you some key pointers basis which you can build the answer. Trust you would also have done your own research on this.

a) Walmart is basically a retailer. A mega retailer, if I may put it that way. We all have those friendly mom and pop stores next door which sell almost everything that we use in our day to day life: soap, chocolates, pastries, food, fruits, vegetables, you name it! Walmart is what you'd call organized retail. They're a huge chain with presence all over the globe. Walmart is what you might call a hypermarket. Their key revenue driver is that they promise their customers the lowest prices of the day. This is a major driver in the retail market, especially in fast moving consumer goods. This is where Walmart is looking at capitalizing, and has been reasonably successful so far.

They also have made a foray into the online space, given the rise of Amazon. This is also an area with huge potential that they are tapping into.

b) In terms of market share, I have a few statistics for you:

In store visit share: (2012)

Walmart: 65%

Kmart: 26%

Target: 9%

Visit share basically tells you the distribution of the customer visits across stores (footfalls)

In the food market, Walmart has a share of 25%, Costco has a share of 8%, Target has a share of 2%, Kroger has a share of 13%

Trust you now also have the list of competitors in this answer

c) The firms mainly compete on price. While quality and service do matter, in an industry such as retail, it is price which is the major driver behind consumer decision making. How much did I save on this purchase? Did I buy those groceries at the lowest price? These are the typical thoughts on any consumer's minds. The mindset of a consumer while buying groceries is completely different than while buying a car or a house.

This is why you see brands such as Walmart or Target offering free shipping during the holidays. And you also see them offering to beat Amazon's prices sometimes. So yes, while quality and service matter, price is key

Key industry trends of Walmart:

Economic conditions do affect retail, but to an extent it is inelastic. The demand for daily groceries is bound to be there. Of course, with dipping economic conditions, the demand for other "nice to have" categories such as furniture, electronics, etc might decline

Technology will play a key role in the modern world - we can see this happening with the online presence of Walmart already in place.

Regulatory norms and poltical conditions are generally mandatory. Not much can be done by firms in this regard. They have to play along.

That's the gist of the analysis.

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