It is better that they waited to have catalog online, their logistics and shipping functions defined, and also designed and launched their in-store pick-up program as well. The defining and executing of logistics strategies is critical for the success of any e-commerce enterprise (Siau, 2003). WalMart chose the best possible strategy by concentrating on making sure all the internal subsystems were working well before launching the website. In conjunction with this focus on backoffice logistics and integration, the company was wise to continually refine their website experience as well. The more effective a website is in making and keeping commitments to customers, the greater the potential to earn customer loyalty over the long-term (Clarke, 2001). WalMart chose the right strategy for their e-commerce initiative and wisely got all of these factors under control before getting their site off the ground. Rushing the launch of the site would have potentially meant sacrificing many of the differentiators the company has, including in-store pick-up to drive traffic back into their stores, and the use of comparison-shopping of items not in their stores as well (Siau, 2003). If they had rushed to get their website up, they would have missed out on differentiating their website and making the experience a positive one, leading to greater customer loyalty in the process.

What do you think the potential impact of Wal-Mart.com will be on the company's efforts to expand internationally?

The bottom line is that it will help WalMart to expand globally, as the company has struggled to expand into cultures dissimilar to its own. The company failed to expand into Germany successfully as it completely misread the market and its cultural cues and values (Christopherson, 2007). The e-commerce initiative will assist WalMart in better understanding the needs and preferences of consumers across different geographies...

Today WalMart does best when expanding into cultures most similar to the United States and Western world (Christopherson, 2007). The one exception to this is the fact that WalMart successfully purchased a retailer in China and has been successful there by backing away from the typically strong control they put over subsidiaries and locations (Christopherson, 2007).
Despite these cultural limitations, WalMart does thrive on data and is a very analysis-intensive company. The data from the e-commerce initiatives will serve to create a greater level of understanding when it comes to regional and global markets. The e-commerce initiatives will also serve to provide WalMart with insight into how to modify and extend their catalog for the unique needs of different markets and consumers globally as well. Finally, the e-commerce initiative will also provide WalMart with insights into price elasticity and pricing strategies in different cultural marketplaces as well. All of these factors contribute to e-commerce strategies being successful over time, specifically pricing system elasticity and focus on channel management strategies being measurable and verifiable over time (Siau, 2003).

References

Susan Christopherson. (2007). Barriers to 'U.S. style' lean retailing: the case of Wal-Mart's failure in Germany. Journal of Economic Geography: Transnational Retail, Supply Networks, and the Global, 7(4), 451-469.

Ken Clarke. (2001). What price on loyalty when a brand switch is just a click away? Qualitative Market Research, 4(3), 160.

McKeefery, K. (2010, February). Walmart restructures to boost e-commerce. DM News, 32(4), 7.

Keng Siau. (2003). Interorganizational Systems and competitive advantages - lessons from history. The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 44(1), 33-39.