By innovating the use of sharing sales data, via computer, with their major suppliers, Wal-Mart has been able to keep key items in stock, without having to stockpile them. When an item is rung up at the cash register, this information is sent to a data warehouse that then facilitates reordering from that particular supplier ("Wal-Mart Story"). Add this product availability to the fact that Wal-Mart offers such a wide variety of items, and services from: financial services to beauticians to optometry to automotive care, and one can easily see how the company has added convenience to its strategies of success.
Wal-Mart's most recent convenience strategy also comes in the form of technology. This time, they have melded online shopping with the ease and convenience of in-store pickup.
Wal-Mart's Site to Store service allows customers to shop and purchase their items online, many of which are not available in stores. Through the www.Walmart.com/sitetostorewebsite, there are tens of thousands of items, in nearly 100 categories, that can be purchased ("Site to Store").
The convenience factor comes in with the fact that nearly two-thirds of Site to Store customers shop Wal-Mart stores weekly.
With Site to Store shipping, customers simply pick up their items during their weekly shopping trips, without paying for shipping. These customers now have access to tens of thousands of products, that they can shop for from the convenience of their home or office, and then pick up for free at their local Wal-Mart ("Site to Store").
Increased product selection, free shipping to the local store, and a pick up location that most would visit weekly no matter what, all add up to increased convenience for consumers and greater success for the organization.
Conclusion:
In the end,...
Certainly, they were led down that path early on when Sam Walton recognized that discount retailing would be the wave of the future. Rapid expansion into all fifty states and multiple foreign markets was facilitated by strong revenues, which were garnered by following Walton's basic theory on success - give the customers what they want and they will continue to come back.
And, giving them what they want is exactly what Wal-Mart has done. By utilizing low pricing, and innovative programs, such as the $4 prescription program to bring consumers into the store, and by increasing the convenience for customers by offering one-stop shopping, consistent product availability and new site to store shipping, customers would almost be foolish not to shop at Wal-Mart. For this reason, it is likely that by continuing to give customers what they want, Wal-Mart will continue to be an industry leader.
References
Dollar Prescription Drug Program. No date. Wal-Mart. December 2, 2007 http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/4_Dollar_Prescription_Drug_Program_Phase_2.pdf.
Economic Opportunities. No date. Wal-Mart. December 2, 2007 http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/Economic_Opportunities.pdf.
Site to Store Program. No date. Wal-Mart. December 2, 2007 http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/Site_to_Store_Program.pdf.
Wal-Mart Story. 24 Aug 2007. Wal-Mart. December 2, 2007 http://www.walmartfacts.com/content/default.aspx?id=1.
The Wal-Mart Timeline. 1 Apr 2007. Wal-Mart. December 2, 2007 http://www.walmartfacts.com/content/default.aspx?id=3.
Wright, S. "Econ Professor Illustrates Benefits of Wal-Mart." MIT. 20 Jan 2006. IAP. December 2, 2007 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/iap-walmart.html.
