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Walmart Case Study

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Walmart Case Study
Walmart is the largest retailer in the United States. Walmart is the discount superstore that is known for their low price guarantee. Walmart’s two main competitors are Target and Amazon. Amazon is the biggest online retailer, and Target is another huge discount super store. Walmart’s strategies set the company apart from their competition.
The economy has been stagnant with little growth, after its downfall in the past years. With consumers having less money to spend, they often shop at extreme value or discount superstores such as Walmart. Walmart 's target market is the working class. The working class citizen is looking for a great deal and central location for everything. The average Walmart customer makes around 30,000-60,000 a year, whereas Target their neighboring discount superstore caters to a customer that make 64,000 and more a year (Mersha, 2012, p.1). Walmart is known for their low prices, Target is known for their private store brands and their quality of products. Amazon’s target market is everyone which really puts a dent in Walmart’s customer base, Amazon is not concerned with demographic boundaries, much like most businesses because it sells a wide range of products from designer names to affordable everyday goods. Amazon is the go to store for an online shopper, this hurts Walmart’s online business tremendously.
A strength in Walmart’s product assortment is the wide majority of items the company sells are necessities, and are bought in all cycles of economic growth and contraction (Gunette, 2012, p.1). Walmart sells basic products, these are products that are seen as necessities that you need all year round. For example Walmart sells products such as basic clothing, hygiene products, and food all at low prices which draws the average consumer into the store because of its affordability and connivance. This is a weakness to Walmart’s competitors because Amazon offers a wide range of products at all price ranges, so when the economy is down


References: Mersha, K. (2012, November 18). Walmart and Target: A tale of two discount chains. In CBS News. Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/walmart-and-target-a-tale-of-two-discount-chains/ Finster, M. (2008, February 11). Marketing and Promotion. In Wikinvest. Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)/Marketing_Promotion Harkinsen, J Banjo, S. (2013, June 19). Wal-Mart 's E-Stumble With Amazon. In The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323566804578553301017702818 Drummer, R Heller, L. (2013, March 29). Walmart V.S. Amazon it 's About to get Interesting . In Forbes . Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2013/03/29/walmart-vs-amazon-its-about-to-get-interesting Serres, C Fingleton, E. (2013, November 25). Amazon.com Is Accused Of Abusive Work Conditions After BBC Secretly Videotapes Warehouse. In Forbes . Retrieved November 26, 2013
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