We watched a show about Walmart this weekend. It was all about how they run the local yokels out of business and push the vendors to give them the lowest prices or they don't do business with them. The show kind of touched on the positives too, but it's spin was how bad Walmart is for not paying higher wages and for forcing businesses to go out of the country to get people to work for lower wages thus lowering prices.
I found out that within one hour of my purchase, regardless of the time of day, Walmart knows what I have bought and what I spent on the item. According to the show it's computer central is 2nd only to the Pentagons. They also have a vendor weblink that allows vendors to check what's been bought, where, and at what price as well. This is how they keep their shelves stocked and know what to buy from vendors and how the vendors can anticipate future orders. This is also how they know what people are willing to pay for an item. They know if they can sell something or not and they know the price point at which it has to meet to move off the shelves.
I am not sure if Walmart is the bad guy or if it's consumers are? I mean they drive a hard bargain because they know what we are willing to pay and what we aren't willing to pay from extensive research and hours of organizing and agonizing (in the early years) over inventory. Inventory is an art and pricing is an art and a skill that is crucial to any business.
I can honestly say that we have on more then one occasion driven out of our way to go to the SuperCenter because I knew I would save money on groceries there. Do I do this every time? No, but I do this a lot of the time. Which ultimately is how the show ended. They basically said that Walmart will continue to run people out of business because we the consumers keep giving Walmart our business. I for one can honesty say that even if I thought that they were underhanded in their tactics I still would go where I get the best bang for my buck.
5 comments:
I saw that same show about a year ago.
I love/hate Wal-mart. I've been more on the love side lately since everyone else hates it. I love their low prices. They are the cheapest and as a family that is living on a budget - shopping the cheapest does us good.
I used to hate wal-mart for its messy stores, tight aisles, and honestly the people who shopped their annoyed me. There was always some weird incident with someone in front of my 20 minute line.
But now they have self check-out, the new stores are designed better (more like Target.)
The little stores who are getting run out are still running their buisness they way they did 30 years ago. They need to learn to be competitive, and I don't feel sorry for them if they don't change their ways. Obviously, they can't compete with wal-marts prices, but they need to provide things that wal-mart does not - personal service, high-end product, more unique items, etc. Sometimes it's hard to find good music in wal-mart unless you like Mexican.
I do like the cleanliness and larger isles of Target. But there prices are higher so ultimately I end up at Walmart.
I don't like taking such a brutal position, but Forrest's comment about stores operating like they did thirty years ago is more or less accurate. A lot of the way that Wal-Mart can be so cheap is because they have a very efficient distribution system in place, so to compete you must have some draw other than price.
There is one main complaint that I have about Wal-Mart. Most employees there will never see enough pay and benefits to survive without some external source of income or support (government or family). The company does provide a path to management for those who are willing to work long and hard. I say that because one of my closest high school friends is or was going down that management path.
If Wal-Mart doesn't hire English majors, who will?
There are definite pros and cons to Wal-Mart. I am not going to stop shopping there though. Target is getting more and more of my purchases. Someone told Dust that Target is better/cheaper than Wal-Mart on diapers.
I think there is a certain know it all mind set in a certain group that has just made up its mind to villanize Wal-Mart. There are pros and cons. Having done the little town circuit the last few years, people were pleased to be living near them and pleased if they could have a job near home. It's not all bad. I'm not a frequenter of Wal-Mart because of convenience/location. Love the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets, not such a battle to get in and out, but I'm still a close at hand/convenience shopper.
Post a Comment