Wal-Mart the Three Different Sources

Wal-Mart

The three different sources of information about Wal-Mart are not entirely consistent. The interview with the store manager is more or less consistent with the in-store experience. The manager knows the store well, and while there is a certain amount of spin put on the experience, when viewed from a business perspective it is pretty much as advertised. The Internet site is a different matter -- the seeming lack of professionalism or organization on the site is entirely incongruent with the well-thought-out stores. The manager admitted to having no responsibility over the website, so in that regard the lack of consistency between the Internet experience of Wal-Mart and the in-store experience is not entirely unexpected.

I believe that the customers on-site are guided towards specific products. In particular, the way the products in store are set up, the customer is drawn to the best deals, and then fans out from there to do the rest of the shopping. This same set-up may be the intent on the online store, but from what I could see it did not work nearly as effectively. The consumer does not have any better ability to comparison shop online because of how disorganized the store is. The in-store experience allows for much better comparison of alternatives. This improves market efficiency, because the consumer is typically able to acquire information quickly at a Wal-Mart, which aids in the decision-making process. It is the ease with which market information is acquired in store that facilitates the increased purchasing that the manager notes is required to make Wal-Mart's business model work.

The market acquired when searching the Internet, however, does not improve market efficiency. Because it is difficult to navigate the site, it is difficult to acquire information. This in turn makes it difficult to compare among alternatives. Market efficiency is therefore at a lower level online. The market efficiency is weakened by the use of resources on the Wal-Mart website. The site contains ads, for example, which while generating revenue do not assist the user experience. Instead, these ads detract from the company's ability to use that space to generate its own revenue. In the store, this is not the case. Every inch of the store is used strategically to help increase sales, from displays in the aisles to even the greeter when you walk in the door, to improve your comfort level.

I view the in-store experience as being highly efficient from the perspective of generating revenue. Different types of goods are grouped together, but there are displays that serve to bring the shopper from one section of the store to another, thus increasing the likelihood of increased sales. On the website, I see that Wal-Mart is attempting to do something similar but in the online setting it comes across as being disjointed. The stores products are not targeted to me, which highlights a difference in expectations between the in-store and online experiences. I expect that an in-store experience will not be personalized, so I do not notice when something the company is attempting fails. But online I do expect a more personalized experience, so when deals are offered that are of no relevance to my search and of no interest to me this comes across as being inefficient. To me this illustrates that the online experience should be, if anything, more economically efficient, but I have found it to be less so.

The firm's position in the market appears to be therefore hindered by the information available over the Internet. The firm is simply less effective at meeting the customer's needs. Whereas Wal-Mart excels in-store at creating visual experiences that draw customers around the store, this is not the case online. Therefore, the customer's participation level in the market is also reduced. It seems more likely to me that a customer in a Wal-Mart store is more likely to engage in impulse shopping than one searching the online store for goods.