Wal Mart Business Analysis

Wal-Mart Retail Business Analysis Retail markets are increasingly competitive and retailers are continuously looking for ways to make their products different. Wal-Mart is the retail leader in providing discounts to customers. In 1962 a man named Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart store in Roger, Arkansas. Due to his business practices, good strategies and implementation, Wal-Mart remains the world’s largest discounted retailer (Maier, M. 2005). Wal-Mart’s marketing strategies are based on two main objectives that have guided the company through their growth years. The customer is featured in the first objective; “Customer would be provided what they want and, when they want it, all at a value”. Second was to”treat each person as we would hope to be treated. They rely on their associated and partners to sustain their success (Rigby, D. & Haas, D. 2004). Recently Wal-Mart unveiled a new store segmentation strategy changing the format that they had used since the start of operations. They incorporated a new look, with clothing layout to reflect a more friendly and open store visit. They are working on a new aggressive strategy to make US stores more relevant by setting aside its cookie cutter past and positioning stores for specific demographic groups (Castro-Wright 2006). Castro-Wright said that segmentation delivers results. He cited one of the Wal-Mart’s Hispanic-focused stores in Houston, where, in an unusual move, the retailer is using a third party Hispanic bakery to provide fresh-baked goods. While this ploy strategy may not work in some Wal-Mart’s, cost savings are the essence of the retailer’s business model, the investment seems to be paying off in Houston (Castro-Wright 2006). In additional to working on a new segmentation strategy, Wal-Mart has been re-energizing its low-price “Rollback” program to bring customer back during the week with the higher cost of gas. The “Rollback” program is meant to convince customers it’s worth