Walmart! The name reflects a multinational retail giant, which has changed the competitive advantages of the retail industry. By providing almost every kind of product at a cheaper price, it has the most extensive customer following base than others in the market. However, it creates a puzzling situation for people by keeping the price low and gaining a higher profit margin every year at the same time! Because Walmart knows how to play with the marketing mixes and develop one that’ll bring benefits for the company. Marketing strategies with its 4P’s are not an easy concept. But when a company learns to apply it effectively, they become successful just like Walmart.
Marketing Mix of Walmart
Product Strategy of Walmart
A product is a tangible or intangible good that is offered to a market based on the demand. A company starts its marketing strategy by deciding the product line it’s going to present to people.
Walmart is a retail company that possesses a broad range of products and brands to its shelf. It’ll be difficult for you to find anything that’s not present in the stores! Food, electronics, medicines, grocery, apparel, fashion items, furniture, stationary, sports, party supplies, books, jewelry, electric kitchen tools, and hundreds of other product categories with thousands of brands under each group can be found on Walmart. It has made and designed each store in a way that people never leave the place without finding their necessities or buying something. It creates an environment with a broad range of product of every category that people gets very little time to think about not to buy something. When a customer enters its stores, the smoothness of finding a product and the next moment discovering himself on a section which can be his potential need makes the customer most of the time to buy more than he needs at that moment. And the high focus on customer service with properly trained employees doesn’t let a customer to be disappointed for a long time.
Price Strategy of Walmart
Price id the negotiable value a customer pays in return for taking a good or service. It’s the combination of operating costs and profit in a way that customers find it not too much for something they’re paying.
“Everyday low price” is the primary strategy and slogan of Walmart. It wants to provide a place to the world where people of all areas and section can find their desired goods at a price that suits their affordability. This company offers its products at a price that’s relatively lower than the competitors. And that’s how it has beaten all the competition and made people go to its stores. It has set the prices of different products in a way that people feel an urge to buy a bulk amount of goods from their stores. The same kind of product can be found in different brands with different price tags. Now it’s up to people to buy based on their budget. But how Walmart keeps the price low at least 15% lower than the market value and still managed to achieve a handsome profit margin? Because this company itself buys in a bulk amount and keeps its stores always filled. And the suppliers also have a good relationship with this company as they know people will buy their products repeatedly and the demand will never diminish. Walmart also uses consumer behavior, timing, and events to decide the prices so that it doesn’t leave a wrong impression.
Place/Distribution Strategy of Walmart
A place is where customers will find their desired products or services. It can be either a physical or online location that ensures the maximum availability of the goods.
Walmart has made the fastest global expansion than any other retail company. It has 11700 stores in over 28 countries. In each country, this company has made sure to open its stores at the most convenient locations. It used the market saturation concept to enter some markets. Not all region of every country is well-populated or has a higher standard of living. It has gone to those places as well, and its service has made other retail stores, that were situated before Walmart, to shift elsewhere, as they were unable to make profits anymore. In this way, this company started one kind of monopoly in lots of areas of different countries. And if you ask about the supply chain management of this business, it has one of the largest and most effective distribution networks. Its warehouses are situated in a way so that its stores can enjoy direct shipping of supplies from the inventory; thus, it reduces the operating cost of transportation, labor wages, etc. Also, the suppliers have a good relationship with the suppliers, which gives a massive advantage to this company.
Promotion Strategy of Walmart
Promotion ensures the public exposure of a business and its products. Without an effective promotional campaign, a company puts itself in a vulnerable position.
The famous slogans of Walmart, such as “Save Money, Live Better,” “Lowest Price Store,” etc. work more than enough if you ask about the company’s promotional activities. Other activities, like providing frequent discounts and coupons and special benefits to regular customers, are its primary offline promotional campaigns. It has now started its e-commerce site as well, where it gives a free shipping facility to the A-graded customers. Also, its 90-day return policy without any receipts makes people come to the stores without thinking. Nowadays, Walmart has made itself more visible in online promotions with different offers as well. This company uses consumer psychology and designs each content to create a push on people’s minds to buy from its stores.
In Summary
Walmart has made itself a pro when it comes to successfully using each of the marketing mixes. This brand has made a position in people’s minds, which is very difficult to break by any other company. Although it still hasn’t reached many potential markets around the world, it didn’t significantly affect its sales and profit. And if you analyze the situation of this company during this pandemic, it still in a favorable position because of its low-cost strategy, which made people buy from its stores more as people are facing money problems and searching for places which can offer necessities at a lower price.
Related
- SWOT Analysis of WalMart
- Marketing Mix of General Electric
- PESTLE Analysis of Walmart
- What are the Competitive Advantages of Wal-Mart?
References
- https://bestlifeonline.com/best-generic-products-from-walmart/
- https://www.sellerapp.com/blog/walmart-selling-strategies/
- https://medium.com/@NordicEdward/the-walmart-content-marketing-strategy-how-to-increase-high-intent-organic-traffic-to-your-website-e82cb50d20a
- https://www.sailthru.com/marketing-blog/this-week-in-retention-mobile-retains-wal-mart-customers-and-converts-holiday-sales-gucci-burberry-and-other-luxury-brands-go-all-in-for-ecommerce/
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