The Analysis Of Walmart Global Marketing Mix

Introduction

Walmart is a popular global brand of Walmart Stores, Inc, a multinational corporation that operates a chain of various stores. The brand has existed for many years and it operates in more than twenty-eight countries. It is among the largest global firm by revenue as well as well as the biggest private employer. In most cases, the brand is redesigned, repackaged and reformulated, giving it a unique appearance. This is one of the reasons it has many customers globally. The brand is characterised by great values and is managed by knowledgeable managers who are experienced in managing big brands. This implies that the techniques used by the management to market the brand to attract many people. Great value is more than the collection of many brands and Walmart brand has been upgraded several times to equate it with its quality. A lot of advertising and marketing are also done to inform the consumers of the brand about the emergence of new brands. As a result, it has emerged as a leader in many countries across the world. The approach used in the enhancement of the Walmart brand has helped to get many markets in the competitive business environment. To shed more light on Walmart brand, this paper focuses on analysing its global marketing mix and how it is standardised across the markets while comparing it within three markets. Besides, it discusses the internationalisation process theory that best describes the internalisation process that Walmart has taken.

Marketing mix

The first marketing mix is a product. As a multinational company, it runs chains of large discount departmental stores as well as warehouse stores. As mentioned above, it is the second largest public corporation, the biggest private employer, and the largest retailer across the globe. This suggests that it must be using a standardised global marketing mix to be where it is. Regarding the product, it has a wide range of them, such as electronics, movies, music books, all types of baby and adult wear, sports items, healthcare products, pharmaceutical products, among others. In fact, the list is endless. Although the Walmart is a global brand, it uses different names in various countries. In fact, products are standardised in the sense that one can obtain them through a huge facility of online shopping and safe shipping that is provided. Additionally, there is a credible and certified system that is offered to customers who purchase any product whether online or through the stores. Moreover, there are private labelled products, such as Cott beverages. Food items have nutritional value and they are environmental friendly. In the UK, Walmart bought Asda to increase its products and gain the competitive edge. It has grown and has become the second largest in Britain. In the US, the brand is leading because of its variety and great value associated with it. In India, Walmart has many stores with various products. The products are of high-quality.

Concerning pricing, is characterised by discount packages that are very attractive and tempting to the consumers. The brand thrives in the competitive business environment because of its advocacy of the pricing policy that provides its customers with low rates that are not available anywhere else. It is important to state that pricing varies with the market. For example, prices in India are lower compared with the prices of similar products in India. This is because India and the US are different in terms of economy. This is the case with Asda in the UK, whereby the low prices have enabled it beat its competitors and emerge as the second largest supermarket in the Britain. In fact, pricing policy as enabled it to outperform its competitors in the market. Walmart uses an Everyday Low Price strategy, which attracts large populations of the customer. Due to low prices, the company sells large volumes of products, increasing its profits. It is important to state that the standardised pricing is the principal contributor to the brand’s competitiveness. This is because low prices make the demand for the products stable and predictable.

Concerning place, Walmart utilises the intensive distribution strategy, whereby its stores offer similar goods. Additionally, employees have similar roles and duties that apply to every store. As a result, it attracts many customers. Walmart has mature management and decisions regarding the locations of its stores to ensure that the customers get them in time. There are many distribution channels in various global markets, giving it excellent performance. In India, the company owns more than twenty best modern wholesale stores across India, while in the US the number of its store is significantly higher than India and UK. It is important to state that most of the superstores are located in nonmetropolitan counties, making it gain from a lowland rent cost and more efficient distribution, where people outside the towns can access them. Walmart witnessed a growing maturity of the internet retailing industry as well as the affordable prices offered by the online retailers. It has launched its retailing websites and planned to build multichannel. It is projected that this will play a big role in attracting and retaining its customers because the internet retailing promotes effectiveness and efficiency when purchasing products. This is revealed by researchers because they argue that the internet and a multichannel strategy will yield more profit for retailers compared with traditional strategies. Nevertheless, the distribution of Walmart produces extemporary results because they are situated in the appropriate regions, which essential when distributing goods from suppliers to retailers who distribute them to the customers at the right time. It is vital to state that Walmart uses its trucks, which helps it to reduce the transport cost as well as enhancing its control over the entire inventory and delivery process. The supply chain is also highly integrated and buying large volumes in Walmart increases bargaining power.

Finally, the company divides this element in sales promotion and communication. Walmart reduces prices to promote sales of inventory and to maintain a high turnover rate. The use of reduced prices helps to solve the problem of stocking the inventory and Burt Johansson and Thelander contend that changes in prices lead to significant development in business performance in a highly price-elasticity product. The promotion is evident in its utilisation of short-term discounts on specific products to encourage the use of its products. Regarding communication, it utilises a slogan that attracts many people. "Save money, live better" has an attractive message to the consumers. In fact, it has led to increased awareness of the public and an increase in brand equity. The use of many advertisement strategies, such as TV, websites and newspapers has been vital to its advertising campaign. Notably, advertising is done in all international markets, making it more popular. This is because advertisement has been recognised as being critical to improving customer loyalty to companies, something that might have played a similar role in attracting the public. It is vital to state that the company focuses on communicating with clients to strengthen the brand. Walmart also participates in many activities to promote the welfare of the society. For example, in India, it has cashew value chain initiative that was conducted in collaboration with CARE to provide sustainable economic openings for women in two districts. In fact, they are located in the interior to reduce commute time and enhance strong participation. Walmart engages in many initiatives across the world, the US and the UK included. Personal selling and public relations are also part of its promotion strategy. Personal selling takes place at the Walmart stores where customers are persuaded to try new products. Press releases are used to enlighten consumers and investors about policies, programmes and strategies.

It is explicit that Walmart marketing mix is standardised and plays a crucial role in helping it to attract customers to its stores as well as building a brand recall. The marketing mix strategies have proved effective in supporting its success. This is clear in its use of low prices, appropriate location of its stores, advertising strategies, and its range of products. However, the marketing department is the one that seems to facilitate the activities of Walmart. Marketing mix should be treated as a whole and different departments should coordinate for a common goal. Evidently, the elements of paradigm impact each other. For example, there are relationships among price, human resource, supply chain and distribution. Based on the fact that the marketing mix has enabled it to distant itself from the competitors, the interaction between different departments will produce excellent results.

It is important to state that there are some areas where the brand under analysis is missing and others are difficult to reach. This is the case, particularly in the developing nations. This implies that it should improve the distribution element of the marketing mix. Walmart can decide to enter new markets and penetrate current ones through direct investments and joint ventures. If it does this, there is the likelihood that this element will strengthen its marketing mix and support it for its continued success in the international market.

The internationalisation process theory of Walmart

Internationalisation is a technique that is essential to adapting a firm's operations, such as its strategy, resources, as well as structures for foreign environments. The process is composed of the amount and geographical distance of the overseas market that an organisation chooses to enter. Additionally, the various market activities that are conducted in different states as well as the intensity of incorporation the activities influence how a company will perform. It is important to state that firm go into globalisation because of their clients migrating and their competitors globalising while others globalise as a symbol of success and progress. In this context of internalisation, Walmart utilises the transaction cost theory. This refers to the cost that results from the creation of an economic trading. This entails the cost that is incurred for every transaction. In fact, it is the total of all expenses needed to establish a new market in a foreign country. Walmart aims at reducing costs in all transactions to attract and retain its customers. According to the theory, if firm plans to use a company-specific asset in a foreign market, the utilisation should be done in the market because of the localisation factors. Evidently, trade barriers and high transportation costs are some of the examples that can hinder a country from achieving its objectives. In this view, it recommends that a company should obtain a licence to continue its operations without hindrances. In fact, Walmart follows the commonly agreed concepts, such exporting of the product, seeking for licencing the product to other firms, joint venture and setting up of an entirely owned subsidiary. In this theory, companies strive to reduce their cost at all levels as they operate and make decisions. This is something that Walmart does because the success or failure of a company totally depends on this the choice about the cost. It is vital to state that the theory focuses on the costs and how it influences the modes of entry into a new market. The transaction costs cover all the costs of looking for information about a foreign market, products, customers, and negotiation costs. In fact, the bargaining power in Walmart is high. Walmart invests highly in research and development to investigate the cost of these factors because transaction costs and difficulties increase when the transaction is typified by asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency. Walmart business is based on keeping prices as low as possible. This is founded on taking the advantage of the volume of its sales, which would eventually allow the economies of scale and level the bargaining power. Additionally, it minimises operating costs by using its truck to supply its products. Therefore, Walmart uses a model that is founded on low prices, on a large scale at the minimal cost. The model is critical to its globalisation process. Evidently, it is utilises increased sales of volumes, the scope of operation and a wider customer base to attract more market share by selling everything due to the low prices. The supply chain management uses electronic product information, retail role in the distribution and layout warehousing. This implies that there is improvement regarding effectiveness and efficiency, reducing cost. It also minimises the overhead and operational costs. This is in addition to leveraging its bargaining power persuade suppliers to lower prices.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Walmart brand is one the most attractive brands globally. It has created employment opportunities and it treats its employees with care and love because it views as the valuable assets and it believes that without customers, it cannot succeed. Most of the successes of the brand can be associated with its standardised marketing mix, which is typified by a wide range of product, proper distribution channels, low prices, and effective promotion methods, such as advertising and the provision of discounts. Besides, it gives crucial attention to the factors that influence the globalisation process.