WALMART EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY
NAME: MARIA JOSE CUEVA
CLASS: INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MARKETING
THE WALMART EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY
In 1998 the big American retailing company Walmart, opened more than 74 stores in Germany. The country seemed to be promising as their consumer spending was robust.
They expected to grow and expand as fast as they do in the United States, but after nine years of trying to accomplish this goal, they had to close and get out of the European country.
There are three important facts that caused Walmart’s failure in Germany.
First, they didn`t consider the German culture and they just applied the same marketing they use in the states. For example dumpling is not permitted in Germany and that is one of Walmart’s most important strategy. Then the Company entered being proud of bringing all the retailing promising, in the American way, the best way, but Germans love and prefer German products and German people and don’t trust in the foreign.
Also their merchandising was wrong. Walmart put all the premium products in the top of the shelves at eye level, while all the discount ones couldn´t been seen easily because they were at the bottom. This was irritating to costumers.
Secondly Walmart established stores in places of hard access and that actually failed with other companies.
Third of all, they applied American employee politics that weren’t the best in the European country. Doing motivational exercises before starting work was not well perceived by German employers. Spying over other coworkers to see if they are acting correctly was also not accepted in Germany and finally forbidding relationships between employers is not a policy that Germans apply.
It could be said that putting as mastermind of Walmart in Germany to an American man was not a good idea, as he didn’t know anything about German consuming habits or their culture.
CLASS: INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MARKETING
THE WALMART EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY
In 1998 the big American retailing company Walmart, opened more than 74 stores in Germany. The country seemed to be promising as their consumer spending was robust.
They expected to grow and expand as fast as they do in the United States, but after nine years of trying to accomplish this goal, they had to close and get out of the European country.
There are three important facts that caused Walmart’s failure in Germany.
First, they didn`t consider the German culture and they just applied the same marketing they use in the states. For example dumpling is not permitted in Germany and that is one of Walmart’s most important strategy. Then the Company entered being proud of bringing all the retailing promising, in the American way, the best way, but Germans love and prefer German products and German people and don’t trust in the foreign.
Also their merchandising was wrong. Walmart put all the premium products in the top of the shelves at eye level, while all the discount ones couldn´t been seen easily because they were at the bottom. This was irritating to costumers.
Secondly Walmart established stores in places of hard access and that actually failed with other companies.
Third of all, they applied American employee politics that weren’t the best in the European country. Doing motivational exercises before starting work was not well perceived by German employers. Spying over other coworkers to see if they are acting correctly was also not accepted in Germany and finally forbidding relationships between employers is not a policy that Germans apply.
It could be said that putting as mastermind of Walmart in Germany to an American man was not a good idea, as he didn’t know anything about German consuming habits or their culture.