Once touted as the world’s largest offline retailer is now making inroads and transforming itself to become the world’s largest online and offline retailer.
Before taking a deep dive into Walmart competitors, let’s check out Walmart’s history and what all changes it is making to stay relevant in this competitive landscape
THE GREAT GROWLING ENGINE OF CHANGE – TECHNOLOGY
With an aim to be known as a technology company rather than an offline retailer, Walmart has partnered with two of those tech leaders – Microsoft for cloud computing and Google for voice-activated shopping – and made a number of acquisitions and investments to elevate its e-commerce platform, along with investments in in-store automation that will eventually enhance operations efficiency within its nearly 5,000 stores.
With all these efforts in place, Walmart has eclipsed Apple as the No. 3 online retailer in the U.S., according to eMarketer, knocking the iconic tech giant out of its spot behind eBay, in part by being a tad more Apple-ish.
Walmart engages in the business of Retail and wholesale runs on the strategy of “Everyday low price” to penetrate the market at a low price. It operates in 27 counties, under 55 different names, Ranks 26 on Forbes Lists with 2,200,000 employed in 11,368 stores, holding 10th position of “America’s Largest Public Companies 2018” having a revenue of $469.2B, assets of $219.3B and a profit of $6.7B.
The company operates in third business segments Walmart U.S, Walmart International and Sam’s Club.
Walmart U.S consists of Retail Store, Digital Retail operations, Offers Financial services and related products such as money order, prepaid cards, wireless transfer, check Cashing and Bill payments.
Walmart International is categorized into supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, wholesale, warehouse clubs, retails other operations outside U.S., whereas Sam’s Club offers specialty, services, auto buying pharmacy, optical, hearing aids centers, tire and battery centers
Understand the marketing strategy of walmart
Check out the SWOT analysis of Walmart
COMPETITORS OF WALMART
AMAZON
The first in the list of competitors of Walmart is Amazon. In the last 25 years Amazon has grown from an unknown online bookseller to one of the most valuable and powerful corporations in modern world.
How did it do it ! – By re-imagining the way to sell things in the age of internet.
The EVERYTHING STORE is what the mission is of Mr. Jeff Bezos.
After conquering the online world, it was time for amazon to move into the real ( offline) world.
Fun fact: Out of the $800 Billion spent on groceries each year only 2% is spent online.
That the scope of offline shopping and that is why Amazon wants to enter the offline retail.
With an aim to the retail industry, Amazon acquired whole foods for $13 billion. You surely must have heard about Amazon Go – the cashier-less experiential store. From groceries to prepared food, one can shop whatever they want and just walk out of the store without paying anything ( Just kidding! – You will receive your bill on amazon app – pretty cool haa !!)
Amazon has married technology with retail and is giving the traditional retail chains like Walmart a run for their money and forcing them to make the technological shift.
Amazon has some pretty cool future plans for its retail expansion and Walmart should really be worried about those. For this reason, we think Amazon is one of the perfect Walmart competitors.
Alibaba
Another e-commerce giant which wants to ride the retail train is Alibaba. In 2016, Mr. Jack Ma at an investor briefing coined the term “New Retail” and since then the term has been used in every subsequent company briefing, presentation, and interviews.
One would question why has the company this simple term a global phenomenon – Reason is simple
Alibaba has identified New Retail as a core pillar and launching point for their “New Five” strategy, areas of strategic importance the company believe will allow them to continue to spread Alibaba’s ecosystem of services not just in China but globally.
BUT WHAT REALLY IS “NEW RETAIL” – let’s see
For the uninitiated, New Retail refers to the amalgamation of e-commerce with brick & mortar retail through integrating both online and offline experiences and services across a single value chain.
New Retail looks to change the engagement paradigm we have with retail by bringing the best of both worlds together, including logistics, data, payments, smart hardware and more.
THE BIRTH OF HEMA: Just like Amazon Go, Hema aims to reinvent the retail experience. From Digitized aisles to farm-to-store food tracking to service robots to cashless check-outs, Hema provides an experiential retail platform to its customers.
Alibaba already has opened 87 Hema stores in China and plans to open 2000 more such stores in the next 3-5 years.
The tech giant is all set to revolutionize the retail industry and has no plans of going slow. For this reason, Alibaba stands second in the list of Walmart competitors.
For more information about what is HEMA and the services it provides – Click on the link
TARGET:
Target has been fighting two wars recently. One against on-line giant Amazon, and another against brick and mortar gorilla, Walmart.
And it’s winning.
Target’s shares higher, ahead of Amazon’s and Walmart’s YTD.
But how did Target managed to wade off the competition from Amazon and Walmart? Thanks to the three-step strategy of Target which helped the company align its capabilities and resources with its corporate goals in the new retail landscape.
First one – Positioning
Target narrowed its market focus to its core customers – young families. Rather than doing all things for all people, Target is focusing on its customers – which are young families.
Target’s strategy is to provide an assortment that is customized to meet the needs of this target segment, at a low price.
Second one – Investing in technology
The company is investing in technology and store improvements to raise capabilities to provide better services. The company has started offering the customers the option to order online and pick up in the store.
Third one – Willingness to Innovate
To compete with its competitors, Target has launched new product lines and is successfully making a difference when it comes to fashion adds. The company launched new brands for intimates, sleepwear, and household essentials, and is planning to different other branded labels for beach and pool products.
These initiatives are making the retailer standout when it comes to analyzing Walmart competitors.
COSTCO:
The company which is known for the value it provides to its customers have great customer acceptance, and which falls 4th on the list of Walmart competitors is Costco.
In times when big retail players have struggled to maintain customer activity in their stores, Costco has managed to increase their traffic by 5.9%.
The company has successfully beaten Amazon in online customer satisfaction.
Costco has a customer-first culture and works to meet customers’ needs quickly without any bells and whistles.
The company’s famous return policy is just one example of how customers come first—even if they want to return a used grill they bought years ago.
What takes Costco to the next level is the unmatched level of customer experience it offers to its customers.
Costco uses technology to offer great products and prices to its customers.
Customers can easily find what they’re looking for and track an order. If there’s an issue, customers can access information on the website or call the contact center to quickly get a human.
A proper amalgamation of value, technology and human touch points is what makes Costco one of the most lethal Walmart competitors.