How To Beat Wal-Mart
by Matthew Maier
Travis DeBacker
Roth Puth
Hung Nguyen
Agenda
• War & business?
• After the external
environment.
• 4 strategies to beat
Wal-Mart.
Military Strategies
Business Strategies
Cost Leadership
Costs are below those of competitor
Product Differentiation
Perceived value of products & services
Cost Leadership
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sources
Size and Economies of Scale
Experience and learning-curve economies
Low-cost access to productive inputs
Technological advantages
Policy choices
Product Differentiation
Sources
1. Focus directly on attributes
•
Product features, complexity, location
2. Relationship with customer
•
Product customization, brand building
3. Linkage between firms
•
Product mix, supply chain, service and support
Rule 1
Hit’em where they ain’t
If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt.
Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon
them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
-Sun Tzu
Costco
• Target Customer: small business owner
– Wealthy & Frugal.
– Demand quality to reflect their status.
• Employees
– Highest paid in the industry
– Motivated & well treated
• Strategy: brand names at bargain prices.
Results
• Sales per store:
» Costco: $115 Million
» Sam’s Club: $67 Million
• Employee Strategy
– Costco Turnover: 6%
Walmart Turnover: 44% (1.5 billion expense)
– Revenue contribution per employee:
» Costco: $16,550
» Wal-Mart: $12,800
Rule 2
OutDiscount the Discounter
What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.
-Sun Tzu
Dollar Tree
Who did what to Wal-mart?
– Dollar Tree: Simple pricing
and a less painful shopping
experience for their customers.
Dollar Tree Facts
- Nation’s largest single-price vendor.
“Everything’s $1”
- 1986 The first Dollar Tree store opened in
Dalton, GA.
- 2735 locations and counting
- $3.2 billion of annual revenue. Net sales
surged nearly 191% since 1998
- In 2004, company earned $186 million
dollars
Strategy
• Outdiscount the discounter. $1
• Suppliers work with Dollar Tree to fit both
their needs. (ex. Instead of 20-ounce soap
bottles, P&G produces 18-ounce soap
bottles)
• Simple convenience
Outcome
• Dollar Tree operating margin, 2005: 9.7%
Wal-Mart: 5.9%
• Customers get the basic necessities in a
shorter period of time.
Rule 3
Re-create what Wal-mart has swept away
To capture the enemy’s army is better than to destroy it..
-Sun Tzu
SAVE-A-LOT
Who did what to Wal-mart?
- SAVE-A-LOT: A grocery chain store who brought back the bygone
Main Street feel and focus on underserved neighborhoods.
SAVE-A-LOT Facts
• Has 1,250 outlets in 39 states
• Sale estimated to be $4.2 billion dollars in
2004
• Growing about 7 % annually.
• Save-a-lot has a 3.5% profit margin
compare to Wal-mart’s 2.6%
Strategy
• Theme: keep everything small. (Ex. 20-25
employees and selection limited.)
• Save-a-lot 1,250 grocery items. Wal-mart
40,000 grocery items
• One kind of each product, also relies
heavily on private-label brands (account
75% of inventory).
Strategy
• Focus on neighborhoods where income
are fixed or below $35,000.
• Inventory comes from 16 distribution
centers all packed into one truck.
• To avoid Trademark cost, brand names
are taken from employees.
Outcome
• The nation’s 5th largest grocer
Rule #4
Win the service game
The potential of troops skillfully commanded in battle may be compared to that
of round boulders which roll down from mountain heights.
-Sun Tzu
•
•
•
•
Dick’s sporting goods- has created a sales team with true expertise that
coddles customers.
Dick’s revenue growth is 34% Wal-Mart sporting section is 16%.
Customers today want information-dick’s hires certified trainers and has 200
PGA pros.
Customers can try out golf clubs in a driving cages with simulated course,
sneaker shoppers can test shoes on a 60-yard rubber track, bike owners
can have their cycles repaired, and tennis players can get their rackets
restrung.
Rule #4 Cont.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Although the cost to run a dick’s might be high, dick’s returns are greater.
Dick’s has been growing 16-23% yearly and stock prices from $8-$34 the
past two years.
Dick’s has a wider selection and is cost efficient.
Dick’s inventory turnover is 3.7 while the industry is 2.7.
Dick’s has a replenishment system that calibrates and gets exact orders
they’re needed.
Never think your powerful competitors are invincible.
Find opportunities and make sure Wal-Mart misses them
Lessons From The Fallen
• Kmart- had high inventory cost and
never materialized.
• Toys R Us- Wal-Mart expanding its
toy selection and slashed prices in the
mid-1900s. Toys R Us was slow to
recognize and found
• Winn-Dixie- Sam Walton worked for
•
Winn-Dixie for six years and two years
after he opened his supercenters with
cut-rate groceries.
Winn-Dixie customers didn’t buy into
an upscale grocer and soon started to
shop at Wal-mart.
Questions & Comments