Brilliant Answers

Criteria

Research Findings

Citation of Sources Provide APA citations for the company’s annual report and the other research sources utilized in completing the assignment. Please see the full reference list at the bottom in proper APA format.

What needs to change or improve for the organization?

Although COVID-19 is a hot topic in almost every home and every news headline, it is important to acknowledge that the current market factors and trends will not last forever. For most businesses, digital sales have impermanently skyrocketed. There is an expectation of the increasing online shift to leave 15-30% growth in e-commerce purchasers even after the pandemic phases out (Charm, 2020). The struggles that have hit, and will hit, Walmart incorporating success e-commerce is harmful to future success. Walmart’s modern-day success relies heavily on its ability to balance both storefront and online success. There was an unexpected $2 billion loss in 2019 due to e-commerce, with an even greater projection coming for 2020 (Repko, 2020).

Walmart’s modern-day hindrances rely on product lifecycle issues, technology limitations, and the ability to recruit and hire effective change agents to each. With these losses, Walmart can either become innovative in its practices or become part of the massive retail decline. Investment into Walmart+, curbside pickups, and electronic inventory transparencies will allow Walmart to stay relevant in the digital age while not compromising necessary foot traffic.

One product category that Walmart dominates, in comparison to both Target and Amazon, is grocery goods. Walmart’s online growth for the past two years is due to the grocery department (Repko, 2020). Walmart has been attempting to balance both brick and mortar stores and e-commerce. There are more distribution channels to manage, trying to keep prices low, and offering a wide variety of products. Through these changes, the growth they have experienced in those last two years is behind the average. Walmart has recently launched curbside pickup as well as a recently launched Walmart+ membership and delivery program.

Another area of improvement to be precisely considered during the rapid growth of 2020 is the recently tripled tech team (Hensel, 2019). The team, referred to as Walmart Lab, leads the company’s technology progress and is critical in the growth and maintenance of the e-commerce capabilities. Considering Walmart has experienced decades of success in a vastly evolving market, the digital age will inevitably ensue pressure. Product lifecycle, e-commerce advances, availability, transparency, and workforce capability must make development to stay even mildly competitive.

Hensel, A. (2019, May 30). How Walmart is building out its tech team to take on Amazon. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://digiday.com/retail/walmart-building-tech-team-take-amazon/

Charm, T., Coggins, B., Robinson, K., & Wilkie, J. (2020, September 16). The great consumer shift: Ten charts that show how US shopping behavior is changing. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-great-consumer-shift-ten-charts-that-show-how-us-shopping-behavior-is-changing

Repko, M. (2020, July 30). Walmart cuts corporate roles as it merges online, store businesses. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/walmart-cuts-hundreds-of-corporate-roles-report-says.html

What kind of communication needs to occur between management, employees, and the change agent(s)?

Walmart, like many other big chain retailers, has competed in the e-commerce sector for years. However, before this year’s pandemic, Walmart was struggling with their online retail division. Amazon has led the online retail market for a while. This year, due to COVID-19, many customers have embraced online shopping to keep afloat. Walmart needed to innovate ways to keep customer loyalty and satisfaction. They promoted curb-side pick-up more, and in major cities, they have implemented their new Walmart+ that delivers within 2 hours. “With innovations like Online Grocery Pickup, Next Day shipping, and a whole host of apps, we’re providing customers with more ways to save time and money while reimagining how digital and physical shopping work together.” (Corporate Walmart, 2020).

With the new changes, Walmart management and employees have had to adapt and overcome to help facilitate shopping for their online and in-store customers. Walmart wants to ensure customer safety and has complied with the CDC guidelines to safeguard their in-store customers. Management is training and inspecting each department to protect their customers so they can have a safe shopping experience.

Walmart Corporation (2020), Walmart U.S., Rogers, AK. https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/our-business#

Identify at least two proactive steps the organization needs to take today to avert possible problems in the future.

Although the pandemic has increased e-commerce drastically this past year, other competitors such as Target and Amazon have much easier online interfaces. Customers are more likely to order products from their websites more than Walmart. In recent years there hasn't been much change in the website layout. Therefore, immediately hiring a new website designer to redo their e-commerce websites can assist in generating sales and making it easier to navigate so customers can easily shop online and checkout. Another proactive step Walmart can make is brand management. A few years ago, Target rebranded and redesigned its stores to attract a higher-class market that drove more customers to it instead of Walmart.

With these proactive steps, they can avoid being out produced by smaller competitors online that have fewer stores, like Target, and still able to expand, which is not the case for Walmart. According to Desai (2020), in the next ten years, Target’s goal is to open 500 more

stores with online shopping pickup available. This would match half the stores of Walmart, which cannot expand anymore in domestic markets. With this being the case, Walmart is already losing to Target via online shopping. Therefore, a

turnaround must be made and quickly. Solidifying their carbon footprint in

e-commerce should be the main concern, then later focus on rebranding to

upper-middle-class markets. This is not their current consumer market, but

those consumers are shopping primarily at Target and Amazon rather than

Walmart.

Desai, J. (2020, August 25). Target, Walmart, or amazon: which e-commerce giant is the best. Stocknews.com https://stocknews.com/news/tgt-amzn-wmt-target-walmart-or-amazon-which-e-commerce-giant-is-the-best/

Identify and explain the most significant obstacle that might be encountered by each of the following: management, employees, the change agent(s), and other significant stakeholders?

Many obstacles are facing Walmart’s interest groups in this day in age, but summed up in one phrase, “uncertainty of the future.” For management and employees, working on the store floor with so many changes coming, job security, and how they work in those jobs presents an ever-changing landscape of

challenges. Changes in cleanliness standards and operating procedures require a new level of individuality from the floor staff in how they function. They are ever adaptable to changes asked of them. From switching to new cleaning products to now running orders out to cars, the changes of the floor staff that we see now could be the face of tomorrow.

Sharing that load is the management and employees of the IT and HR departments. A growing number of customers are choosing to do their shopping online. So, the amount of information passing through this team has increased exponentially. The IT and HR staff find themselves in a unique role now, in becoming the “new face of the company.” How this team services the customers through development and virtual service dictates a larger percentage of the company’s image. This increases pressure from upper management while the customers face their own set of challenges.

As the world continues to change around us, in more ways than just their local grocery store, customers are the ones looking for these changes in the retail environment. With this group being the main force driving the change, it challenges them to come up with the starting place for these changes, communicating their wants and needs to the company at an increased rate.

For investors, the concern is not about the specific changes but the overall cost to the company. While the costs to implement the changes for a single store may not be a significant amount, the investors are concerned with multiplying that cost over multiple stores in 27 other countries. The focus of the investor is balancing the needs of the customers with the cost-effectiveness of the change.

Cohen, S. (2020, May 19). The One Reason Walmart Has A Winning Coronavirus Strategy. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/05/19/the-one-reason-walmart-has-a-winning-strategy-against-the-coronavirus/?sh=695997e36ef8

What sacrifices might need to be made to accomplish the goals/objectives of this organization?

As Walmart continues to launch one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic e-commerce organizations, they are sacrificing their future to meet the growing needs and demands of the e-commerce world.

Meanwhile, employees have continued to work every day through the pandemic, sacrificing their health and safety to keep the store running for customers. Truckers are working to ensure merchandise gets where it needs to be responsibly and sustainably (Corporate Walmart, 2020). The increased demand for products has caused them to sacrifice their time away from family and risk their health making deliveries.

Walmart may also have to sacrifice some of their loyal employees who do not work in the store to now work directly with customers as more customers shop online, use self-checkout lanes, curbside pickup, and deliveries. If they fail to make the changes needed to adapt to the current state of our world, the organization may end up failing customers altogether. They would not be able to uphold their promise to create a seamless experience for shopping anytime and anywhere.

Walmart Corporation, (2020), Walmart U.S., Rogers, AK. https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/our-business#