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72 AMIT J. SHAH AND MICHAEL L. MONAHANAT

Marketing
The discount retailing business is seasonal to a certain extent. Generally, the highest volume
of sales and net income occurs in the fourth fiscal quarter, and the lowest volume occurs
during the first fiscal quarter. Wal-Mart draws customers into the store by radio and televi-
sion advertising, monthly circulars, and weekly newspaper ads. Television advertising is
used to convey an image of everyday low prices and quality merchandise. Radio is used to a
lesser degree to promote specific products that are usually in high demand. Newspaper
advertisements and monthly circulars are major contributors to the program, emphasizing
deeply discounted items, and they are effective at luring customers into the stores.
Efforts are also made to discount corporate overhead. Visitors often mistake corporate
headquarters for a warehouse because of its limited decor and “show.” Wal-Mart executives
share hotel rooms when traveling to reduce expenses. The company avoids spending money
on consultants and marketing experts. Instead, decisions are made based on the intuitive judg-
ments of managers and employees and on the assessment of strategies of other retail chains.
Wal-Mart censors some products. The company has banned recordings and removed
magazines based on lyrics and graphics; it has also stopped marketing teen rock
magazines. Wal-Mart advertises a “Buy American” policy in an effort to keep production
at home. Consequently, Wal-Mart buyers are constantly seeking vendors in grass roots
America. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Zebco, the fishing equipment company, responded to Wal-
Mart’s challenge by bucking the trend toward overseas fishing tackle manufacturing.
Zebco created more than 200 U.S. jobs to assemble rods and to manufacture bait-and-cast
reels. The company’s bait-and-cast reels are the first to be manufactured in the United
States in thirty years.

Competitors
Target has now become a fierce competitor of Wal-Mart and is ranked second among
discount retailers with sales of nearly $65 billion with 366,000 employees. As of February 2,
2009, Target had 1,681 domestic Target stores including 239 Super Targets and ranks 28th on
the Fortune 500 list. Target has created a niche for itself by offering more upscale, fashion-
able merchandise than that of Wal-Mart and has earned a reputation for inexpensive, chic
merchandise.
Kmart used to be the main competitor for Wal-Mart, but in 2001 it declared bank-
ruptcy. During 2002 Kmart shut down 600 stores in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, under new management, Kmart’s stock increased
dramatically in 2004, which allowed it to buy Sears for $11 billion. Now Kmart operates as
a subsidiary of Sears Holding and follows Target in third place among discount retailers
with sales of $17 billion.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is also a competitor of Wal-Mart. Costco competes
with the Sam’s Club segment. They are the largest wholesale club operator in the United
States, just ahead of Sam’s. Costco currently has 550 warehouses, 403 in the United States
and the rest dispersed from Canada to Japan. Most recent comparisons show that while the
Sam’s Club division of Wal-Mart brought in over $44 billion in net sales. Costco finished
the year at just over $72 billion.

Future
What strategies would you recommend to current CEO Mike Duke? How can Wal-Mart
benefit from Internet retailing? How aggressively should Wal-Mart expand internationally
and where? Should Wal-Mart expand the convenient store concept in China and other
markets? Should Wal-Mart get a foothold in Europe before competitors seize the initia-
tive? Should Wal-Mart expand further in Mexico, the United States, or Canada? Should
Wal-Mart make further acquisitions, like its Woolco acquisition in Canada? Is Wal-Mart’s
rate of growth of Supercenters too fast? What private-label products should Wal-Mart con-
sider developing? What can Wal-Mart do to improve its Sam’s Clubs operations? Develop
a three-year strategic plan for CEO Mike Duke.