Walmart probably is the most popular retail company in the United States or even the world. I agree with your point regarding Walmart’s success depending on low prices and a wide variety of goods. This peculiarity can be referred to as price leadership, and Walmart indeed has the advantage over other retail corporations in the availability of goods. I also agree that local buyers contribute considerably to the company’s success as they allow the management to reduce expenses, including the logistics for goods that are not demanded in the region.
The strategy of Amazon is completely different from Walmart’s, as well as its tactics. Your points on the advantages of Walmart in comparison with Amazon seem rational to me. However, with the spreading of digital technology and global trends considering it, Walmart will likely lose its position. The main reason is that people tend to transfer more routine tasks from offline to the online sphere to save time. Therefore, Amazon has a severe advantage over Walmart, but its power would be noticeable only in the nearest future. Moreover, the absence of physical stores allows the company to save a great deal of money. Hence, although Walmart is famous now, it may change soon due to its better compliance with the consumers’ needs.
As the main Walmart advantage over other stores is the constant availability of a wide range of goods, having them delivered in time was crucial for the company during the pandemic. The changes in the supply chain that Walmart had to manage were impressive and, as the financial statements reveal, successful (Financial information, n. d.). Thus, the company’s strategy was relevant to the stressful and unpredictable conditions of the coronavirus-related crisis.
I like how you listed the steps Walmart undertook to manage its supply chain on a high level and maintain success. However, you state that the company’s competitors are far from reaching the same turnover and profit levels. I suppose such an opinion is based only on the present market conjuncture and consideration of the crisis consequences since the probability of future success of the companies that implement digital technology is high.
Reference
Financial information. (n. d.). Walmart. Web.