Walmart’s phenomenal success has resulted from an unrelenting focus on bringing value to its customers. Day in and day out, Walmart lives up to its promise: “Save money. Live better.” It rang up an incredible $408 billion in sales last year—1.7 times the sales of competitors Costco, Target, Sears/Kmart, Macy’s, JCPenney, and Kohl’s combined. Walmart isn’t just out to deliver customer value. It’s mission is to lower the cost of living for the world. To accomplish this mission, Walmart offers a broad selection of carefully selected goods at “unbeatable low prices.” Just how does Walmart make money with such low prices? Walmart is a lean, mean, distribution machine. Superior management, sophisticated technology, and bargaining power that comes with its size have all contributed to the lowest cost structure in the retail world. Walmart’s growth has slowed as it has reached such an enormous size. But it isn’t taking its eye off the ball. To reignite growth, Walmart is pushing into new, faster-growing product and service lines, including organic foods, store brands, in-store health clinics, and consumer financial services. It’s also pushing its expansion into international markets and online sales. Based on its obsession with customer value, Walmart is determined to keep making its slogan, “Save money. Live better.” a reality for as many people as possible.

Answer the following questions -

1. What is Walmart’s “Save Money. Live Better.” slogan all about?

2. Does Walmart’s message work for you? Do people feel as strongly about Walmart as they do about, say, Target?

3. Consider both Walmart (www.walmart.com) and Target (www.target.com). In what ways do these two companies compete? Compare them using the variables of the marketing mix - Product - Price - Place - Promotion.