academic essay

MARKET REPORT

7

Ironically, retail business is one of most effectively running businesses around the globe. Commonly, we think that motor corporation earns more revenue than any other commercial organization but retail businesses around the world really showing efficient performance. For instance, we take an example of Walmart an American based retail organization has chain of large discounts stores and warehouses. This is biggest retail organization operating with more than 110,000 stores and approximate sales of $514 Billion around the globe (Samli, 1989). The reason for choosing this retail organization is its fundamentals, strategies along effective and efficient marketing through which company is progressing outstandingly not only in-home country i.e. United States but all over the world.

1. Situational Analysis

In situational analysis, we shall analyse most important elements of a business organization based on which one actually progresses effectively and efficiently. First, we analyse the situational analysis of Walmart by SWOT analysis which would tell us where the organization is currently standing.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths · It has Powerful retail brands · Extended large-scale retail business operations around the globe · Walmart is One-Stop retail · Initiated strategic retail business programs · Effectively and efficiently manages Working-Capital	Weaknesses · There is Self-Cannibalization · Walmart’s involvement in a number of legal issues · There is a continuous recall of product · Community-related issues
Opportunities · Launched a productive program of global food safety initiative standards · Continuous increase in demand regarding online sales · More opportunities for Walmart in the growing economy	Threats · Intense and strong market competition · Increasing threat relating price matched program by the target · Continuous threat regarding state currency fluctuation

The above-mentioned is thorough SWOT analysis of Walmart which shows us its strategic position in the market along with increase in customers and revenue globally. By analysing the strengths of the Walmart, it can use its opportunities to overcome weaknesses in the market regarding customers, revenue which would be able to face and mitigate threats in an effective and efficient way. For instance, large-scale business operations around the world provide Walmart an edge over other retail businesses to capture the market by implementing effective and efficient retail strategies (Bonnano & SJ, 2012). There is number of competitors i.e. Tesco, Walgreens, Target Corporation, etc. give strong competition to Walmart but due to having competitive retail business strategy, it surpasses over associated competitors by using its strengths and opportunities in particular country in a productive way.

TOWS Analysis

Tows analysis is basically a comparison of strengths and Weaknesses with opportunities along with strengths and weaknesses with threats respectively.

Strengths/Opportunities

· As the brand is a world-renowned retail market leader and by using its strengths effectively and efficiently it can take advantage with respect to provide discounts to customers and attractive offers which others normally don’t do.

· As the organization is operating around the globe where economic situation is not the same sometimes. When there is trouble or slowdown in the economy, it affects the disposable income of people by reducing it. This is the best time for Walmart when it can retain its customers by effectively providing affordable offers at products.

Weaknesses/Opportunities

· Walmart did not achieve desired goals and objectives in India that’s why the organization needs to clear its mission statement by implementing it productively because there is great potential lies in the retail business.

· Customers buy products whether online oy go physically to the stores but the pattern is the same in the world. In this way, Walmart can guide and updated them about its new products and policies.

Strengths/Threats

· As mentioned above that Walmart has strong brand image among its associated competitors. There is room for the organization to offer differentiated products to customers in order to retain its competitive advantage globally.

· In order to create goodwill among customers in political instability situations, they can offer competitive and differentiated products to customers.

Weaknesses/Threats

· Effective, efficient and most importantly engaging and attractive advertising campaigns would help Walmart to avoid tough competition around the world.

· Extensive market research is needed to know about culture of any specified country, studying foreign markets in order to establish a competitive market in Asia and Europe.

Competitors Analysis

Walmart is actually surrounded by strongly associated competitors i.e. Tesco, Amazon, Target Corporation, Walgreens, etc. Due to having strong competition, Walmart is still at the top retails among its competitors due to great customer acceptance and effective deliverance of affordable but valuable products to customers to retain them for next 50 years. For instance, we compare revenues of last 20 years of Amazon with Walmart’s one-year revenues (Mun, 2015). The organization is still high and at top by making difference of more than 30%. We must analyse that how Walmart is facing and retaining its top retailer position around the world? Because the organizations have ultimate vision is to become the best and biggest retailer in the hearts and minds of consumers and employees. As far as UK is concerned, Walmart has planned to grow its business in UK by effective implementation of low prices strategy in order to show its presence in UK successfully.

Market Factors

There are certain factors that help in analysing Walmart’s market position in UK and globally. The factors we shall analyse are as follows:

· Geographic Market

Walmart has wide geographic market possessing 11,300 stores worldwide under 58 banners in 27 countries physically. Walmart has its e-commerce website operational in 10 countries (Moorman & Gerald, 2017). It has opened thousands of stores only in the U.S. and expanded its retail market internationally. In U.K. Walmart has more than 633 stores including ASDA Subsidiary.

· Demographic Market

Walmart does not target a specific audience but it has all essentials for individuals starting under 24 to over 65 years of age. They can get everything we use daily.

· Competitors

Walmart is really encompassed by solid related contenders, for example, Tesco, Amazon, Target Corporation, Walgreens and so on. Due to having solid rivalry, Walmart is still at the top retails among its rivals because of extraordinary client acknowledgment and viable liberation of moderate however significant items to clients to hold them for the next 50 years. For example, we think about incomes of most recent 20 years of Amazon with Walmart's one-year incomes. The association is still high and at top by making contrast of over 30%.

Positioning

Walmart has portrayed its image with effective market positioning. It focuses on pure customer-friendly prices and do bulk sales in order to maximize prices and avoid over-pricing of the products. Walmart has implemented great procurement strategies in order to bargain from affordable market players by keeping the supply chain alive, valuable and at low prices.

Target Customers

As mentioned above that Walmart does not have any niche market but it has all valuable products to all customers of every age-group. They target consumer minds and hearts but not their pockets specifically.

Customer profiling

As far as customer profiling is concerned, Walmart is basically focused on all types of customers whether they have annual income of $35k or $50k. Likewise, kohl’s targets highest income people from which they earn more by over-pricing their products because they know the target customers would definitely pay these prices. Mostly, Walmart does not classify but an average type of customer of Walmart looks like a lady of around 51 years of age. Men are more likely to do shopping at Walmart (John, 2018). Ironically, they are successful because they read the minds and hearts of people but others go for their pockets which automatically decreased the flow of customers because it classified its revenue among upper class, middle class, etc.

Retail Strategy Model

In order to describe the retail strategies done by Walmart, we use retail strategy models in order to understand it in an effective and efficient way. The elements included in the retail business model are as follows:

· Organization

· Sourcing

· Store Operations

· Value Chain

Organization

Organization i.e. Walmart uses this retail business model in order to make its retail operations across the UK and other parts of the world in an effective and efficient way. As far as organizational policies are concerned, it has prime focus is on the quality of the products, physical layout, Pricing Model, Revenue model etc. are certain strategies that are being used by Walmart Inc. to run its retail operations effectively and efficiently.

Value Chain

As we consider the value chain of Walmart Inc. it is basically an estimated ration that more than 55% of products supplied from overseas suppliers at Walmart Inc. along with 75%sales come from non-store inventory. It is held possible because Walmart Inc. value chain based on the following principles which are as follows:

· Use of Minimum Links in Overall Supply Chain

· Forming Effective Strategies partnerships with Vendors

· Use of Cross Docking based on Inventory Tactic

The above-mentioned are basically the elements of the retail business model which is used by Walmart Inc. in order to continue its business operations productively.

2. Analysis and Critique

In this section, we do analysis of market channels adapted by Walmart, Market Communications, Customer Services, Operations along Visual Merchandizing.

· Market Channels

There are 4 different types of market channels exist out of which Walmart does direct selling but it operates on stores only. There is a big chain of people and activities who made it possible. They induced modern and advanced technology in order to manage the inventory and Walmart’s warehouses because due to vendor management inventory Walmart is able to develop is 100% presence, availability in order fulfilment in merchandizing. As we see in the past Walmart always used effective market channels in order to carry minimum costs so that they can provide low prices to customers. They used to interact directly with manufacturers regarding cost-cutting along with effective and efficient management of supply chain. The organization uses effective sourcing strategies in order to find products at lowest prices from suppliers but they must endure that they would be able to meet the demand. Through effective and efficient use of market channels, Walmart fulfils its business marketing strategy i.e. collaboration. Experts, management of the organizations thinks that Walmart does not have straight forward business operations but there is strong relationship with vendors, cost-cutting links in supply chain management and most importantly cross-docking and inventory.

Market Communications

Every year Walmart’s market communications budget exceeds approx. $2.5 Billion which is used in number of marketing mediums to communicate with customers with new products, policies, offers, discounts, etc. Walmart uses certain marketing mediums in order to connect with customers i.e. Print Media Advertisements, viral marketing promotions, sales promotions, events and experiences marketing, public relations marketing along with direct marketing are some components of marketing communication mix which are being used by Walmart successfully. For instance, print and media promotions is a traditional way of Walmart to communicate in the market, likewise, sales promotions strategy used by putting seasonal sales on the board on fewer prices in order to attract customers towards the products.

Customer Services & Operations

Effective and efficient customer services are being provided by Walmart physically and through their websites. They say that we provide you superior services and love to hear from you about Walmart’s hospitality during your shopping. It is an effective tool because customers always prefer to shop where they get efficient customer services appropriately. As far as website is concerned, there is separate portion on it i.e. live chat through which customers can directly interact with the administration to get information, feedback or inform them about any faulty product. All such operations are highly productive in order to make Walmart stand out among other retail organizations. Comment by Undisclosed recipients: Needs speech marks and a ref if a direct quote

Store Visit Analysis

Business accomplishment is uncommonly dependent upon its retail mix, as a framework to battle effectively in the market. Factors in the retail ix including esteeming, territory, progression, store arrangement and structure, visual advancing and customer support among others should along these lines be all around arranged in order to develop a higher claim to fame among contenders. This paper is a review of the retail mix thought in with the Wal-Mart retail outlet arranged on 231 Shaw bridge St. Glasgow G43 1LH, UK being the relevant examination for the review. The undertaking stocks a wide collection of items going from kitchen item to equipment and is seen as a one-stop-shop. Regardless, the thing stretches out inside each class is limited since the undertaking just deals with two or three huge suppliers. The store gives great expenses and confines and is thusly a favored objective for clients. The exhibit at the store is particularly done and is appropriately charming yet with all around arranged shows for explicit things, generally done by the suppliers. The store is favoured as a result of the open walkways that are perfect for people joined by kids. What's more, customer care organization at the undertaking is splendid and customers get the most outrageous thought from orderlies. Comment by Undisclosed recipients: What is this? Comment by Undisclosed recipients: I can’t find this store Is it an ASDA store? Comment by Undisclosed recipients: What does this mean? Comment by Undisclosed recipients: There’s no evidence of field work here

Visual Merchandizing

Visual merchandising is one of most important elements considered in selling process. The customer always prefers those places which are quite flexible in terms of space and everything must be lined-up accordingly so that they would not face trouble by searching the products (Kerfoot, 2003). For this purpose, Walmart outsources personnel who designed their stores and allow them adjusting as many customers due to sufficient space along with attractive products set-up. It actually gives edge to Walmart because customers do not have to roam all over the store just to pick-up a single product. They just see the direction and pick-up the product easily. Especially these UK stores are highly effective and efficient visually.

3. Proposed Recommendations and Actions

In order to represent proposed recommendations and actions by this top retail organization, we have 7P’s theoretical framework which would define the strategic actions of Walmart.

· Product

As far as Walmart’s products are concerned, they sell variety of products i.e. furniture, hardware, grocery, health goods, entertainment and many more. It gives customers flexibility to purchase from them. The purpose of having all products that they do not want their customers to choose competitors even for a single product.

· Price

As far as Walmart’s product prices are concerned, they are highly affordable and every day there is less price charge for the product. Customer-friendly product prices give them an edge over other retail stores around the globe.

· Place

Geographically, Walmart implements its effective strategies to choose a suitable location for every single entity associated with the organization. Location must be suitable in terms of distribution centres so that orders can easily be received and delivered to customers. Secondly, online merchandising must be effective so that customers would feel easy to receive all goods at their doorstep rather than to visit stores physically. Locality for delivery business whether it is retail or other carries huge importance.

· Promotion

Highly attractive promotional strategies used by Walmart all over the UK and globally by putting seasonal sales along with stores traditional slogans showing low prices for the products attain customer attention successfully.

· People

The efficient diverse workforce works at every Walmart store in the UK and all over the world. There are certain issues regarding their minimum wage level but Walmart provides them facilities in order to retain them i.e. incentives rewards because they believe that employees are building block of their organization.

· Process

A complete process of chain which actually serves the customers in an effective and efficient way. The process may include it's inside and outside operations because process itself makes the whole organization. It must be friendly and useful for consumers. As far as its subsidiaries are concerned, they work according to their traditional business. For instance, Walmart acquired ASDA but did not change its main focus which was non-food items (Turner, 2017). It is still selling non-food items but its revenues are being enjoyed by Walmart because it is liable in terms of acquisition terms and conditions. In this way, business process of Walmart continues and reaches top retail organizations around the globe.

· Physical Evidence

Walmart’s stores designed in such a way that customers would not get bored by the physical appearance of the store. That’s why t hey outsource visual merchandisers in order to develop and decorate the stores in order to make it attractive for customers and employees as well. Physical evidence is prime factor because building, decoration, advertisements outside the stores actually pull customers inside, so it must be highly efficient.

References

S.J. Goetz, Bonnano, A. (2012). Walmart and Local Economic Development: A Survey. Economic Development Journals.

John, Michael. (2018). Walmart's Effective and Efficient Marketing Strategies: Global Market Positioning. Marketing Strategy & Implementation.

Kerfoot, S. (2012). Visual Merchandising and Creation of Discernible Retail Brands. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.

Moorman, C., Gerald, Zaltman. (2017). Factors Affecting Trust in Market. Journal of Marketing.

Mun, LY. (2015). Walmart's Success in UK, Mexico, Canada, and China. Global Marketing Strategy.

Samli, AC. (1989). Retail Marketing Strategy: Planning, Implementation, and Control. Quorum Books.

Turner, Elizabeth. (2017). Marketing Research and Planning. Business Strategy and Implementation.

Ferguson. (2017). Retail Marketing Analysis . Forbes.

Kokemuller, N. (2018). Purposes of market strategy implementation. Retail Business Analysis.

Mack, S. (2019). Competitive Markets. Suitable Marketing and Business Approaches

	Situational analysis of chosen organisation (25%)	Analysis and critique of organisation. (25%)	Proposed actions for the organisation (40%)	Overall presentation: 10%
70% +	Evidences wide research from a range of well referenced sources and with excellent focus on key and relevant information. The student shows an ability to extract core information. Furthermore, there will be strong integration of selected models demonstrating ability to apply the most relevant theory	Excellent critical analysis of the organisation using data and theory to enable identification of clear areas for further exploration and research.	Creative and interesting suggestions for actions proposed actions which are grounded in theory and are supported by linkage from key information within the situational analysis.	Excellent presentation with strong structure, extensive referencing and consistently good spelling and grammar.
60-69%	Good integration of relevant, clearly referenced, research material from a good range of sources. Furthermore, there will be competent integration of selected models demonstrating ability to apply the most relevant theory.	Very good critical analysis of the organisation using data and theory to enable identification of clear areas for further exploration and research.	Clearly identified proposed actions which are grounded in theory and are supported by linkage from key information within the situational analysis	Good presentation, structure, spelling and grammar, effective referencing
50-59%	Some research although not always referenced or sufficiently focused in key areas of relevance. Limited integration of academic material. Although the models are covered, the application is weak. Student may not have considered which models are most appropriate and covered all without selection.	Reasonable critical analysis of the organisation which uses some data and theory to identify areas for further exploration.	Some actions are proposed and supported with links built from situational analysis section. Theory used to support could be more strongly applied.	Reasonable presentation, with clear structure and some references. Some spelling and grammar errors.
40-49%	Limited research and poorly referenced. Mainly anecdotal with limited integration of academic material and mainly a description of organisation strengths and weaknesses with little analytical content	Weak or lacking in critical analysis of the organisation. Data and theory either absent or poorly applied.	Some actions are proposed but links to previous sections a little weak or lacking in substantiation. Poor use of theory	Weak presentation, some structure and minimal referencing. Poor grammar.
0-39%	Very little research; poor referencing of sources; highly descriptive and unconvincing. Academic models either absent or used inaccurately so discourse is based on anecdotal information or guesswork.	No clear critique of organisation, discussion is predominantly descriptive.	Proposed actions not defined, or of a very poor quality with no substantiation.	Poor presentation, lacking structure, referencing and depth of content. Poor grammar.

Comments on your report: This report does not meet the requirements of the assignment brief as it fails to provide any insight into the retail marketing operational approach adopted by Walmart The models used are not retail specific, rather more generalized business models and whilst I would have accepted these when supplemented with retail insight, there was little evidence of field work being conducted- the store quoted was a Glasgow address and I can find no evidence of a Walmart store at that location which supports my knowledge that Walmart operates under the ASDA stores in the UK. It appears you did not take on board the comments from your formative assessment and I think you have instead switched retailer ( Tesco to Walmart) without addressing the fundamental aspects of the module. I refer you to the assignment brief in particular these sections which were absent from your work. 2. An analysis and critique of the organisation’s product and brand offer, channels to market, retail marketing communications, visual merchandising, customer service and retail operations. (25%) 3. Proposed recommendations and actions for the organisation which may be as a result of opportunities, threats, or be challenges or recommendations you have identified. This should be structured using selected appropriate theoretical frameworks such as 7P’s, retail life cycle, wheel of retail, accordion or any other model which is suitable. (40%)