Essay Sample on Walmart Targets 95% of Population: Wealthy to Middle-Class

Introduction

Based on the products that Walmart provide to the customers, it is evident that they target 95% of the population as their customers. They offer a wide variety of goods which range from wellness, health goods, appliances, furniture, Hardware, groceries, to entertainment. The products and the price of the goods provided in Walmart shows that they target all the extremely wealthy people. In other words, the target customers of Walmart are those people who are in the upper reaches of the middle class, middle-class, and the low end of the middle class. It implies that the group of people that Walmart does not target is the upper-class or extremely wealthy people. It is because wealthy people may not require the services offered by Walmart. For example, the people in the upper-class category won't take their cars for services in the Walmart, they don't shop their clothes at Walmart, and they won't require to purchase their groceries at Walmart.

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The reason as to why the upper class doesn't shop at Walmart can be used to show the core need of the customers who shop at Walmart. One of the core needs of the Walmart customers who shop at Walmart is that they need a place they can purchase goods in low quantities at a favorable price. Since Walmart provides a lot of products at a reasonable price, most people who are above the poverty line will be catered for at Walmart (Hannah 49).

The other core need for Walmart customers is that they require substandard goods whose price is not too high for them to afford but also good quality. For example, consider the case of electronics, jewelry, and the like. The people who are below the upper class are the one who purchases such products at Walmart (Hannah 50). For an instant, the wealthy people will buy higher-end electronics which are not available at Walmart.

The other core need of Walmart target customers is goods delivery. Since Walmart target all the individuals just above the poverty line as their customers, delivery services might be a core need for their customers. Some of their customers may lack means for transport for the products they purchase from Walmart. Besides, most of the customers in this category are employees who are more help up in their shores, and they may require their shopping to be delivered to their residential places without physically moving to the stores (Keiningham, Gupta, Aksoy, & Buoye 37).

The other core need of Walmart target customers is the people who need services at a low price. It offers all types of services such as haircuts, nail polishing, and cars servicing, among others. Though they provide excellent services to their customers in all areas, their prices favor all those people who are not extremely rich. In other words, they offer all kind of services that an ordinary customer may require but does not have such services designed for their sole use at their homes. For example, an individual who needs his/her car to be serviced but lacks a car service garage at home will be the target of Walmart (Keiningham et al. 38). However, it does not target the upper-class people who may have specific people who service their vehicles at their homes based garages.

Provide an analysis of Walmart 's competitors. Who are the firm's competitors, and what are their core differentiators? 2 Pages

Walmart is an organization that sells its products both in wholesale and retail. It is well known for its everyday low price as its competitive advantage. It has various stores in different countries. It also has multiple stores as it deals with a variety of products. Among the most famous store is Sam's club which deals with registered members where the registered members have the advantage of receiving customized and specialized treatments in the hearing aid in the battery centers and auto purchasing centers. The company has been very much success both in the United States and in the international market as it has been able to employ 2.5 employees. However, the company is not without competitors.

The leading competitor of Walmart company is Amazon which has its headquarters in Washington. Compared to Walmart, this company has 342, 000 employees and a sale of $136 billion as per the 2017 report. The company also has a capitalization of 340 billion. Various aspects make Amazon a close competitor of Walmart, which include online retails. It is one of the famous company that offers online sale similar to Walmart and hence its primary competitor. Besides, similar to Walmart, its competitive advantage comes from the essence of the quality and price of its product. The differentiation of this company comes from its convenience ensured trough use of user-friendly websites that enable sales even from a third party. Due to its convenience, Amazon is ranked as the most innovative company in the world (Bhasin). Compared to other Walmart competitors, Amazon is considered as its top competitor due to its vast turn over and a market presence without a doubt.

Alibaba is the other major competitor of Walmart. Similar to Walmart, it also operates on wholesale and retails and on online platform and mobile. The company employs approximately 40,000 people as per the 2017 report. During this year, its capitalization was at $265 billion with a sale of $21.5 billion. Its core differentiation includes its payment methods such as Alipay for online payment and mobile payment and cloud computation used for data management (Farooq). Due to its tremendous growth rate around the globe, Alibaba is considered as a top competitor for both Amazon and Walmart.

The Home Depot is the other major competitor of Walmart. It is a company that deals with home improvement materials such as building materials, house improvement materials, and garden materials. It also offers services that deal with the installation of products such as vinyl siding, water heaters, kitchen cabinets, roof, tiles, and windows. Besides, it also offers repairing and remodeling, most of which is done by a third party. By 2017, the Home Depot company had employed more than 400,000 employees with a market capitalization of $178 billion and a sale of $95 billion. Similar to Walmart, Home Depot has many stores, and its penetration strategy is low price, and hence, a Walmart competitor that cannot be underrated. However, the core differentiation of this company is that unlike Walmart, which deal with a lot of product sales and services, it only deals with home improvement goods and services. Besides, unlike Walmart, it also involves repairing and remodeling services (Pratap). These aspects give it a competitive advantage over Walmart as far as home improvement products and services are concerned, and hence, it poses a significant challenge to Walmart in this area.

The other competitor of Walmart is IKEA. It operates in 50 countries, and it has more than 370 stores. However, most of its stores are located in Europe where the United States and Germany are where it mostly acknowledged as 18% of its sale is from these countries. Similar to Walmart, it offers a wide range of product where currently it has 65,00 products. However, its core differentiation is based on furniture products. It provides furniture with good value at a favorable price. Due to IKEA, Walmart has never gained a considerable inroad in the countries that this company operates specifically on the furniture section (Pratap). As such, Ikea is also considered as Walmart major competitor.

3. Relative to its competitors, how does Walmart compete in different segments. Do you agree with the firm's choice of target segments? Why or why not? 2 Pages

Based on the competitions that Walmart get from its competitors, it has introduced various strategies to compete in different segments. One of the aspects used by its competitors to gain a competitive advantage over it in specific portions is specialization. For example, a company such as Ikea only deals with home maintenance goods which make it have a competitive advantage over Walmart in this area. They also offer extended services such as refitting to their customers. To counter this, Walmart business segmentation where various stores are specifically introduced to deal with products and goods in specific areas. Besides, it also collaborates with the third party to offer certain services that they cannot provide, such as refitting (Hanna, Parent, Pitt, & Berthon 214). I agree with this choice of a counter-attack as it can help the company to continue being competitive in all areas. It denies other companies a chance to enjoy such an advantage in the sale and provision of services in specific areas. Lack of addressing these particular areas can make its competitors more potent in these areas, which can be a disadvantage for Walmart.

The other thing is that most of Walmart competitors copy its strategies of gaining competitive advantage by applying the same approach that it uses such as low price and ensuring the high value of the goods. However, Walmart uses the strategy of mix market products to counter this challenge. I agree with this strategy as it can make many customers prefer Walmart to other companies. According to Hanna et al. (112), customers feel more satisfied whenever they can get all their needs catered for under one roof. In most cases, the customer goes shopping with a list of goods and services that they want to satisfy. Since Walmart provide almost all the services and goods they require, most customers are likely to choose Walmart over other companies that deal with only one product or service.

Walmart also faces a challenge in a particular segment due to an increasing number of competitors selling the same products at a low price. To counter this, it uses the essence of marketing mix promotions. Whenever it identifies a stiff competition in a specific segment, it uses promotions to enlighten the public about the products its offer in that area. It runs frequency promotions which may involve providing its customers with discounts across all seasons. Besides, it also employs all array of advertisement ranging from social media, billboards, and TV ads, among others (Keiningham, Gupta, Aksoy, & Buoye 14). This choice of retaining its completive advantage over its competitors is worth as it ensures that Walmart maintains its competitiveness in all areas.

Online sale is the other area where the competitors use to gain some advantage over Walmart. Similar to Walmart, its competitors also offer various services such as the free shipment of goods that they buy online. However, since this is also an avenue used by Walmart to sell its products, it has not taken it rightly. To secure a competitive advantage of its competitors online, Walmart opts to advance its services to its online customers. One of the strategies that it applies is ensuring a high level of security service for online customers. It also establishes itself as being more reliable than its competitors. For example, it offers safe warrant for most of the products purchased online (Keiningham 55). I agree with this choice taken by Walmart to counter online sale competition. This is because most of the online buyers opt to buy from a company that will guarantee them that they cannot lose their money or the products. Secure shipment used by Walmart makes them feel relaxed while making online purchases from Walmart. Besides, a reliable warrant make customers assured of a quality product from Walmart. This strategy can help it create a good reputation in the online sales and hence a competitive advantage.

Works Cited

Bhasin, Hatesh. "Top 19 Walmart Competitors - Competitor Analysis of Walmart." Marketing91, 14 June 2018, www.marketing91.com/walmart-competitors/.

Farooq, Umar. "Walmart Competitors." Marketing Tutor, 19 July 2019, www.marketingtutor.net/walmart-comp...