The Story of Wall-Mart Success - Research Paper Example

Research Paper: Success Story of Wal-Mart Contents Introduction 3 Reasons behind Wal-Mart behind the best in the retail industry 3 Factors that has made Wal-Mart best in the field 4 Description about the founder of the company 6 Description about where the company started 7 Conclusion 7 Works Cited 9 Introduction The research study is based on one of the most renowned companies in the retail industry that is Wal-Mart. The company is an American multinational retailer that operates through a wide range of discount, warehouse and department stores across the globe. According to the Fortune Global List of 2014 the company is the biggest public corporation across the globe. The company is the most successful company and the highest revenue generating organization in the retail industry. The company focuses on delivering huge volumes of products at the lowest cost possible so that it can acquire more number of customers and generate more of profits for future growth and success. The thesis statement for the research study is to determine the various factors that had contributed in the most effective way for the success of the company. The company in order to position itself as the lowest cost retailer had to adopt many strategies that even include effectively managing their operating costs so that they do not have to compromise on the profit margins. The company is not only the largest retailer across the globe but is also the biggest employer and has a large base of employees. Reasons behind Wal-Mart behind the best in the retail industry Wal-Mart has been able to prove itself as one of the largest retailers across the globe. The company has been able to maintain an image of retailer that offers the best of cheapest products in comparison to all the other players in the retail industry. The company has set its mark as the only retail chain that has not only been successfully in the home country but has also been able to set high standards in the international markets. The company achieves the rank of being best retailer not only through its low cost products but also through its customer service that it offers to its customers. The company maintains a team of well trained professionals and they are divided into various departments so that there is a smooth flow of operations. The company has also achieved the image of being the most attractive employer in the retail industry. To be best in a particular industry can be analyzed through the revenue margins and the profit levels that are achieved by a company in comparison to other players in the market. Wal-Mart is known to be the best in the retail sector as its revenue margins has always grown down the line. The company is the topmost retailer across the globe in terms of revenue (Fishman 113).The other factor that states that the company is the best in the retail sector is that it has been able to maintain a steady growth down the years and unlike other competitors has not seen any kind of turmoil in its business operations. Also the company operates across various regions and offers a wide range of products, and the company even imports different kinds of consumer goods and electronics in United States. The wide range of activities that the company performs also has been well supported by its association with all the local communities which has proved that the company is socially responsible. The company performs all kinds of activities may that be getting associated with all form of environmental concern issue or may that be extending their support and help to the weaker sections of the company. The company also is known to be the best in terms of the relationship that the company maintains with its employees and also with the customers which has made it lead towards success. Amongst all the players in the field Wal-Mart is the only retailer that has satisfied the demand of the consumer market and that too at the most cheapest price which cannot be easily imitated by any of its competitors. Factors that has made Wal-Mart best in the field The history behind the success of the company that is made it the best retailer in the industry is not the stores that the company opened but it is much beyond that it is more of the partnerships that the firm created with all its suppliers and the relationships it has developed with all the customers who has been served by the company. The history behind the success and growth of the company had started off late in the year 1960s. The strategy of the founder of Wal-Mart that is Sam Walton was to establish a very strong foundation for its retail stores on basis of the lower prices that he had planned to offer to its customers that cannot be offered by any other retailer in the industry. In 1962 the first store of the company was opened and by 1967 the company had a total of 24 stores in the region. The incorporation of the company as the Wal-Mart stores took place in the year 1969. In 1970s the strategy of going national was implemented by Sam Walton and the motive was to spread the concept behind its retail stores to a wide range of customers (Soderquist 105).In the year 1972 the company was finally listed in the Stock Exchange list of New York and it owned a total of 51stores with a sales volume of $78 million. The company had taken another leap in the year1980 with the foundation of Sam’s Club that was mainly focused towards serving individuals and small business and this year even noticed the opening of the first supercenter that was built on the idea of combining general merchandise with that of a supermarket. In 1980 due to its diverse plans and actions the company was able to create a record of $1 billion through its rising sales volumes which was the highest annual sales that any of the companies in its industry had noticed. The company started off as a small initiative that was taken by Sam Walton but soon it developed to be one of the most popular retailer chain across the globe and the major factors that contributed towards such growth is the efficiency in the company’s business operations and to explore and meet the hidden demand of the consumer market. In 1983 in order to increase more of efficiency the company had eliminated the use of manual cash registers with that of computerized systems. The main motive behind opening supercenter in Washington was to offer more of convenience to the shoppers so that they can have the option of a supermarket at a full scale with that of general merchandise. The company tried to analyze the exact needs of the customers and tried to align their business operations as per the need without just being intended towards earning profit margins but to serve the customers well through its products and services. In the year 1990 the company attained the image and the position of being the biggest retailer in the United States. The supercenters of the company was able to take it to a different level as the concept of one-stop shopping and that of convenience while shopping was redefined by Wal-Mart. The company was able to reach out to the international markets with its business strategy of Everyday Low Prices. The company was able to extend its business operations to over 27 countries and in order to facilitate more the shopping experience of the customers the company had even launched a website through which the customers can shop online at their convenient time and then pick up the merchandise from the retail stores which has saved much of the time of customers that they would have to spend otherwise in any other retail outlets (Brunn 114).The business strategy of the company has always been to achieve the market leader position in terms of the lowest cost that it offers to its customers. The company maintains the best suited supply chain for the business so that it can receive the required amount of supplies without any form of delay and can be able to meet the rising demand of the consumer market. These kinds of consumer focused business strategies have been able to make Wal-Mart the best in the retail industry. Description about the founder of the company The founder of the biggest retail chain across the globe is Sam Walton whose business strategy has set high marks for all the other players who intends to step in the retail industry. Sam Walton was born in the year 1918 and was an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was born in Kingfisher located in Oklahoma and has been able to seek success because of the retail outlets such as Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. In the initial stages of his career he was in the military when he had left his career in the military field he put in investment so as to open his own stores the idea of starting up a retail chain that offered the products at the lowest cost possible was through dealing with the supplier. He analyzed that buying in bulk volumes would save his cost and that he can pass on to its customers whose purchases from his retail stores would increase the profit levels for the company. Description about where the company started The company had initially started off long back much before its incorporation with the retail revolution in 1960s. In 1960 Sam Walton had decided that he wanted to open a retail store that could offer the best of prices to its customers. The idea behind his approach was to reach out to the larger portion of the consumer market and to achieve higher profit margins. The first store of Wal-Mart was opened in the year 1962 at Rogers, Arkansas. The founder wanted to acquire good percentage of market share in the United States before planning to expand to any of the international markets. Conclusion Wal-Mart over the years has been able to serve a large amount of customers and also maintained good relationships with all its suppliers and its intermediary channel partners. The company offers the best of products at the lowest cost possible and gives the advantage to the customers to shop at their convenience. From 1962 to the present scenario the company has been able to set high performance standards in the industry. The increased revenue growth of the company highlights the success of the company over all its competitors in the retail industry. The company has been able to seek growth because of its continuous innovation and high efficiency level of the entire team so as to maintain a sustainable position of the company in the highly competitive environment. Wal-Mart in the present scenario operates in over 27 countries through its wide range of retail chains and aims at delivering value to all its customers. Works Cited Brunn. Stanley., Wal-Mart World: The Worlds Biggest Corporation in the Global Economy. USA : Taylor & Francis. 2006. Print. Fishman. Charles., The Wal-Mart Effect: How the Worlds Most Powerful Company Really Works. USA : Penguin. 2006. Print. Soderquist. Don., The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the Worlds Largest Company. USA : Thomas Nelson Inc. 2005. Print. Read More