Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example

Marketing Strategy Marketing Strategy Wal-Mart is a store that was created with the intention of providing daily household goods that a typical family requires. It provides a broad range of merchandise with its emphasis being on the brand products and the low prices they have. For the company to achieve all this, it had to use unique marketing strategies. It started out with advertising just like the other members of the industry who were using the newspapers but later changed when the results were dismal (Soderquist, 2005).

It abandoned the strategy of advertising in the newspapers because of the inconsistency involved with it and took to using the television. The competitors were using television advertisements to reach their customers, which was not effective because it was expensive. Wal-Mart obtained time in the television to display their products and to feature them at the low prices that make them very reputable (Soderquist, 2005). This worked because the customers knew the whole range of products and their prices when going to shop in Wal-Mart.

Target audience Wal-Mart is very popular amongst the low and middle-class income earners. Wal-Mart targets the blue collar and the middle class shoppers who are not used to frequenting the big malls (Soderquist, 2005). This is because of the low prices that they offer to this group of people. Wal-Mart has opened up many outlets including in areas that are normally ignored by other retailers. It is also estimated that approximately quarter of those who frequent Wal-Mart do not have credit cards and are limited to using cash.

This is a clear indication that most of the customers who frequent Wal-Mart are the low and middle-income earners. Wal-Mart is also the biggest shopping entity with more than 4,000 stores worldwide, which is twice more than the next competitors have. Wal-Mart, therefore, targets the people with limited financial abilities and those in remote areas whereas most of the competition seeks to impress the upper class members of the society (Blanchard, 2005).Public opinion What image do they want to convey?

Wal-Mart intends to show that it is possible to sell goods cheaply by reducing the costs of production. How do they attempt to position themselves in the minds of consumers in the market? Wal-Mart has positioned itself as the leading retailer in the industry. The low prices that they offer to consumers and ease of accessibility to the consumers are the factors that have made them to be the biggest retailer worldwide. What is their current image in the industry and in the minds of consumers? Most of the consumers view Wal-Mart as a perfect place to shop because their products are affordable.

The customers are also aware that Wal- Mart does not focus on fashion. Wal-Mart is more about quantity and a place to shop cheaply. However, to the customers Wal-Mart is not famous for quality. Is this image working for them? This move has worked for them whereby the testimony of this is in the customer base that they have. How does this compare with the image of competitors? The consumers view the competitors to Wal-Mart as expensive and unreliable. They could be viewed as unreliable because the customer is never sure of what to expect in the near future.

This is because of the constant changing of prices.Global presence Wal-Mart has not restricted itself only to the United States but has even expanded to other countries. The company starts by creating partnerships with other local organizations that are in the host country. Next, the company works very closely with the government and lastly taps into the purchasing power of those in the middle class (Blanchard, 2005). Wal-Mart has been able to expand to various countries with ease while some have turned out disastrous like it was the case in South Korea.

After opening in South Korea, Wal-Mart was not able to attract customers to shop in their stores and had to terminate its operations. The company has expanded its operations to the nearby Mexico. They have also been able to expand to India against much resistance. There have been accusations against Wal-Mart because some consider it as an oppressing unit to the employees. In spite of success in some countries, there have been major failures too (Kurtz, 2012).The company had little success in South Korea and Germany, which resulted in the closing of their outlets after suffering major losses.

Therefore, in spite of it being a success because of the low prices, it has not been able to be acceptable by everyone.ReferencesBlanchard, R. (2005). The digital challenge for libraries: Understanding the culture and technology of total information. Lincoln, NE: IUniverse.Besanko, D. (2010). Economics of strategy. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. D. (2011). Marketing strategy. Australia: South-Western Cengage LearningKurtz, D. L. (2012). Boone & Kurtz contemporary marketing / David L. Kurtz. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage LearningSoderquist, D. (2005). The Wal-Mart way: The inside story of the success of the worlds largest company.

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