INTRODUCTION

The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31,

1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is

headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is also the

largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its

US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business.It also owns and operates

the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America.

Walmart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. [5] The

company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50

states and Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom

as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price.But operations in India

have not started yet. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and

Canada. Walmart's investments outside North America have had mixed results:

its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China are highly

successful, whereas ventures in Germany and South Korea were unsuccessful.

And-year old Mike Duke is the fourth CEO in Walmart’s 47-year history and

made his debut at the company’s 2009 annual meeting. Duke believes Walmart

is the “largest family in the world."

The Story

Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas, began his retail career when he

started work on June 3, 1940, at a J. C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa where

he remained for 18 months. In 1945, he met Butler Brothers, a

regional retailer that owned a chain of variety stores called Ben Franklin and that

offered him one in Newport, Arkansas.[6]

Walton was extremely successful in running the store in Newport, far exceeding

expectations.[7]However, when the lease came up for renewal, Walton could

neither come to agreement on the existing store's lease renewal nor find a new

location in Newport. Instead, he opened a new Ben Franklin franchise

in Bentonville, Arkansas, but called it "Walton's Five and Dime." There, he

achieved higher sales volume by marking up slightly less than most competitors.[8]

On July 2, 1962, Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City store located at

719 Walnut Ave. in Rogers, Arkansas. The building is now occupied by a

hardware store and an antique mall. Within five years, the company expanded to

24 stores across Arkansas and reached $12.6 million in sales.[9] In 1968, it

opened its first stores outside Arkansas, in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore,

Oklahoma.

The company was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on October

31, 1969. In 1970, it opened its home office and first distribution center

in Bentonville, Arkansas. It had 38 stores operating with 1,500

employees and sales of $44.2 million. It began trading stock as

a publicly held company on October 1, 1970, and was soon listed on

the New York Stock Exchange. The first stock split occurred in May

1971 at a market price of $47.

Finance and governance

For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2011, Wal-Mart reported a net income of

$15.4 billion on $422 billion of revenue with a 24.7% gross profit margin). The

corporation's international operations accounted for $109.2 billion, or 26.1%, of

total sales.[1] It is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to

the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by

revenue.[101]

Wal-Mart is governed by a fifteen-member Board of Directors, which is elected

annually by shareholders. Robson Walton, the eldest son of founder Sam Walton,

serves as Chairman of the Board. Michael T. Duke serves as Chief Executive

Officer (CEO), and Lee Scott, formerly CEO, serves as Chairman of the Executive

Committee of the Board. Other members of the board include Aída Álvarez, Jim

Breyer, M. Michele Burns, James Cash, Roger Corbett, Douglas Daft, David

Glass, Gregory B. Penner, Allen Questrom, Arne M. Sorenson, Jim Walton,

Christopher J. Williams, and Linda S. Wolf.[1] Sam Walton died in 1992. After Walton's

death, Don Soderquist, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice Chairman, became

known as the "Keeper of the Culture

History Timeline

1960s

First discount store in Rogers, Ark.

The Walmart story began in 1962, when Sam Walton, our founder opened the

company’s first discount store inRogers, Ark. 1968 saw the hiring of Walmart

Aviation’sfirst full-time pilot, who provided help to Sam and Bud Walton, as well as the

opening of the first stores outside of Arkansas, in Sikeston, Mo., and Claremore, Okla.

The company officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on October 31, 1969.

1970s

Walmart's first distribution center, Bentonville, Ark.

The 1970s marked the beginning of significant growth for the company. The first year of

that decade saw the opening of the first Walmart distribution center, as well as the

Walmart Home Office, in Bentonville. Ark. At that point, Walmart employed 1,500

associates (employees) working in 38 stores, with sales of $44.2 million. Walmart also

began selling shares over the counter as a publicly-held company in 1970.

1980s

First Sam's Club, Midwest City, Okla.

1980

Growth continued into 1980, with Walmart stock splitting 100 percent for the fourth time

with a market price of $50. That year also saw the opening of the largest distribution

center to date in Palestine, Texas. In 1981, Walmart entered Georgia and South

Carolina, and made its second acquisition with 92 Kuhn’s Big K stores. The company

entered Florida and Nebraska in 1982, following June’s fifth 100 percent stock split at a

market price of $49.875.

1983

Forbes magazine ranked Walmart No. 1 among general retailers for the eighth year

straight in 1983, the year that the first Sam’s Club opened in Midwest City, Okla. The

same year, Walmart opened stores in Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and North Carolina,

implemented the characteristic People Greeters in all locations, and opened the first 1-

hour photo lab in Tulsa, Okla. Walmart also acquired U.S. Woolco Stores in 1983.

1984

1984 saw Sam Walton doing the hula at high noon on Wall Street, making good on a

promise to associates after the company achieved a pre-tax profit of 8 percent for the

previous fiscal year. 1984 was also the year that David Glass was named company

president, and Walmart entered Virginia.

1985

At mid-decade, Walmart employed 104,000 associates in 882 stores with sales of $8.4

billion. Stock split 100 percent in September, with a market price of $49.75. That year,

the company entered Wisconsin and Colorado and also acquired Grand Central Shoes.

The next year, 1986, Walmart entered Minnesota.

1987

Walmart marked its 25th anniversary in 1987, with 1,198 stores, sales of $15.9 billion

and 200,000 associates. The stock split 100 percent again in June, with a market price

of $66.625. The company also completed the Walmart Satellite Network, the largest

private satellite communication system in the United States, linking all operating units of

the company and the Home Office with two-way voice, data, and one-way video

communication.

1988

By 1988, 99 percent of Walmart stores had bar-code scanning capabilities, the

first Supercenteropened in Washington, Mo., and the company acquired Supersaver

units. David Glass was named chief executive officer of Walmart. Walmart closed out the

1980s with the addition of operations inMichigan, West Virginia, and Wyoming, for a total

of 29 states.

1990s Walmart Visitors' Center, Bentonville, Ark

.1990

Walmart became the nation’s No. 1 retailer in 1990, entering

into California, Nevada, North Dakota,Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Utah and

acquiring the McLane Company of Temple, Texas. The company also opened

the Walmart Visitor Center on Bentonville’s town square, on the site of Sam Walton’s

original Walton’s 5-10 store. Walmart stock split 100 percent for the ninth time in 1990 as

well, at a market price of $62.50.

1991

Branching out further in 1991, Walmart stepped into the international market with the

opening of a retail unit inMexico City. On the domestic front, the company entered into

several states in the Northeast and South Atlantic regions,

including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, New Jersey and New York, and acquired Western Merchandisers, Inc. of

Amarillo,Texas. Walmart also introduced the “Sam’s American Choice” brand products in

1991.

President George H. W. Bush presents Medal of Freedom to Sam Walton.

1992

On April 5, 1992, Sam Walton passed away at the age of 74. Just weeks before,

President George H.W. Bush presented him with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s

highest civilian honor, during a ceremony at Walmart headquarters. Following Sam’s

passing, his son S. Robson Walton was named chairman of the board. With the

additions of Idaho, Montana and Oregon, Walmart operated in 45 states in the United

States in 1992, and expanded into Puerto Rico.

1993

Walmart’s international business formed its own division the following year, with Bobby

Martin serving as president. 1993 also saw the tenth 100 percent stock split at a market

value of $63.625; the first billion-dollar sales week in December; the acquisition of 91

Pace Warehouse Clubs; and Walmart’s entry into Alaska, Hawaii, Rhode

Islandand Washington, bringing the company’s total to 49 states. The 50th would be

added two years later.

1994

In 1994, a prototype Walmart store, designed to be as environmentally friendly as

possible, opened in Lawrence, Kan. The company acquired 122 Woolco stores

in Canada, and opened three value clubs in Hong Kong. As of that year, Walmart

International operated 123 stores in Canada and 86 in Mexico. Also in 1994, the Code

Adam missing child program was implemented in all stores, being named for Adam

Walsh.

Walmart Todo Dia in Brazil

1995

1995 saw the passing of Sam Walton’s brother, James Lawrence “Bud” Walton,

Walmart’s co-founder. The company entered its 50th state, Vermont, and built three

units in Argentina and five in Brazil. As of that year, Walmart Stores Inc. operated 1,995

stores, 239 Supercenters, 433 Sam’s Clubs and 276 international stores with sales of

$93.6 billion and 675,000 associates.

1996

In 1996, Walmart entered China through a joint-venture agreement. Also in 1996,

the Missing Children's Network was implemented in all stores to feature missing children

by displaying their information on bulletin boards.

1997

By the following year, Walmart became the largest private employer in the United States

with 680,000 associates, plus an additional 115,000 international associates. 1997 was

also Walmart’s first $100 billion sales year, with sales totaling $105 billion, and the

company served 90 million customers per week worldwide. Walmart also replaced

Woolworth on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the company introduced

OneSource nutrition centers.

1998

Walmart entered into two more countries in 1998, with the acquisition of 21 Wertkauf

units in Germany and a joint-venture agreement to operate in Korea. The company

exceeded $100 million in annual charitable contributions that year, with donations

totaling $102 million. Walmart also introduced the Neighborhood Market concept with

three stores in Arkansas.

Late 1990s

In the last year of the 1990s, Walmart became the largest private employer in the world,

with 1,140,000 total associates. The stock split 100 percent for the 11th time, with a

market price of $89.75. The 1999 Cone/Roper Report, an annual national survey on

philanthropy and corporate citizenship, ranked Walmart the No. 1 Corporate Citizen in

America. The company acquired 71 Interspar units in Germany and acquired the ASDA

Group plc in the United Kingdom.

2000s

H. Lee Scott Jr., third CEO of Walmart Stores Inc.

2000

Walmart entered the new millennium with the appointment of H. Lee Scott Jr. as the third

CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2000. That year, Fortune magazine ranked the company

fifth in its "Global Most Admired All-Stars" list and named Walmart the third most

admired company in America. The 2000 Cone/Roper Report once again ranked Walmart

as the No. 1 Corporate Citizen in America. Also in 2000 Walmart started walmart.com to

enter the expanding online market to increase it’s reach and the profits thereafter.

2002

Hispanic Business magazine ranked Walmart one of the "Top 25 Diversity Recruitment

Programs" in 2001 for its aggressive program to hire and promote Latinos. In 2002,

Walmart received the 2002 Ron Brown Award, the highest Presidential Award

recognizing outstanding achievement in employee relations and community initiatives.

2003-2004

Fortune magazine also placed Walmart in the top spot on its “Most Admired Companies”

list two years in a row, in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, Walmart was also presented the

"Corporate Patriotism Award," which is presented to a company that exhibits exceptional

dedication to supporting of U.S. service members and their families.

2005

Walmart marked a significant turning point in 2005 with a new commitment to bring

environmental sustainability into its business, under the leadership of CEO Lee Scott.

The sustainability commitment developed after Walmart led the corporate drive to assist

in U.S. hurricane relief effortswith $18 million in cash donations. That same year, in

McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colo., Walmart created experimental stores that save

energy, conserve natural resources, and reduce pollution. The company also launched

the Acres for America program, which conserves critical wildlife habitats for future

generations.

As of 2005, Walmart employed more than 1.6 million associates in more than 6,200

facilities around the world – including 3,800 U.S. stores and 3,800 international units –

with $312.4 billion in sales for the year. The company served more than 138 million

weekly customers in the United States,Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El

Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan,Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico,

South Korea and the United Kingdom. View the current unit count for each country.

Seiyu Store in Japan

2006

By 2006, the number of weekly customers grew to more than 176 million around the

world, with 6,779 locations. Walmart had record net sales of $345 billion. The company

increased its ownership stake in Seiyu inJapan, to 53.3 percent, and increased its

ownership of CARHCO to 51 percent, renaming the company Walmart Central America.

Through the Walmart Foundation, charitable partnersand donations from customers and

associates, Walmart contributed more than $415 million in cash and in-kind merchandise

to 100,000 organizations worldwide. Walmart also launched a new $4 generic

prescription drug program   to help customers in its U.S. pharmacies save money

on health care.

2007

In February 2007 Walmart helped launch Better Health Care Together, a unique

partnership of organizations dedicated to a set of four common sense principles for

achieving a new American health care system by 2012. Later in the year, Walmart

expanded its successful $4 generic program, which as of 2007 had saved customers

more than $396 million on prescription drug costs.

Walmart International reached significant milestones as well. In August, Walmart and

Bharti Enterprises announced an agreement to establish Bharti Walmart Private Limited,

a joint venture for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management

operations in India.

The 3,000th international store, a Supercenter in Sao Paulo, Brazil, opened in November

2007. In December, Walmart successfully completed a tender offer to acquire all issued

and outstanding shares of Seiyu in Japan, which raised Walmart’s ownership to 95.1

percent.

2008

On April 10, 2008, Sam's Club celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 2008, Sam's Club

operated more than 590 locations nationwide and more than 100 locations

internationally.

2009

Mike Duke succeeded Lee Scott as president and chief executive officer, effective

February 1, 2009. Duke was also elected to the company’s board of directors. Scott

continues serving as chairman of the executive committee of the board. The board also

approved the promotion of Eduardo Castro-Wright to vice chairman of Walmart.

WALMART STORES

Walmart Discount Stores

Our founder, Sam Walton, opened his first Walmart discount store in 1962. Today, there

are 629 stores offering a pleasant and convenient shopping experience across the

United States. The size of an average store is 108,000 square feet. Each store employs

about 225 associates.

Our stores feature wide, clean, brightly-lit aisles and shelves stocked with a variety of

quality, value-priced general merchandise, including:

Family apparel

Healthy and beauty aids

Electronics

Toys

Lawn and garden items

Jewelry

Automotive products

Home furnishings

Hardware

Sporting goods

Pet supplies

Housewares

Walmart Supercenters

Our Supercenters were developed in 1988 to meet the growing demand for convenient,

one-stop family shopping featuring our famous Every Day Low Prices. We save you time

and money by combining a full grocery and our general merchandise under one roof.

There are 3,029 Supercenters nationwide, and most are open 24 hours. Supercenters

average 185,000 square feet and employ about 350 or more associates.

Supercenter groceries feature:

Bakery goods

Meat and dairy products

Fresh produce

Dry goods and staples

Beverages

Deli foods

Frozen foods

Canned and packaged goods

Condiments and spices

Household supplies

Most Supercenters also have many specialty shops such as:

Vision center

Tire & Lube Express

Brand-name restaurants

Portrait studio and 

one-hour photo center

Pharmacy

Health clinic

Employment Agency

Hair salon

Bank

Walmart Neighborhood Markets

Walmart Neighborhood Markets offer a quick and convenient shopping experience for

customers who need groceries, pharmaceuticals, and general merchandise all at our

famous Every Day Low Prices.

First opened in 1998, there are now 168 Walmart Neighborhood Markets, each

employing about 95 associates. A typical store is about 42,000 square feet.

Walmart Neighborhood Markets feature a wide variety of products, including:

Fresh produce

Meat and Dairy products

Frozen foods

Dry goods and staples

Health and beauty aids

Stationery and paper goods

Drive-through pharmacy

Deli foods

Bakery items

Canned and packaged goods

Condiments and spices

Pet supplies

Household supplies

One-hour photo center

Walmart Express Stores

The first two Walmart Express test stores opened in June 2011 in Northwest Arkansas.

Walmart Express has been created to offer low prices 

every day in a smaller format store that provides 

convenient access for fill-in and stock-up shopping trips. 

The stores give Walmart flexibility in serving customers, especially in rural and urban

areas where shoppers may

not have access to larger stores.

The Walmart Express test stores average 15,000-square-feet and offer groceries and

general merchandise, including an assortment of fresh produce, dairy and meat, dry

goods,

consumables, health and beauty aids, over-the-counter medicines and more. Many

have 

pharmacies as well.

Walmart.com

Founded in 2000, Walmart.com brings the convenience, great merchandise

selection, friendly service and Every Day Low Prices of your neighborhood

Walmart to the Internet.Walmart.com features more than 1,000,000 products,

plus easy-to-use music downloads and digital one-hour photo services. And

we’re adding more great products every day.During the holidays, Walmart.com

features many special offers available only online. It’s also a convenient place to

find out about our exciting in-store holiday specials.With our innovative Site to

Store program, you can purchase items at Walmart.com and then have them shipped free

to your local store for pickup.

Walmart’s e-commerce

Wal-Mart E-business

In today's major organizations, e-business is imperative for their continuous growth.

There are few private or public companies that is not on the World Wide Web. Wal-Mart

is a company that banks on e-business. Being part web-based, helps to reach the

consumers they usually will not receive business from. E-business can have a major

influence and impact on all four functions of management.

Leading is a major part of e-business. One must establish a direction before one goes

down that path. Wal-Mart decided to go in the direction of an online store. This enables

customers that prefer online shopping to purchase what they need from the store online.

This has been a very successful element in Wal-Mart's over all business, especially

around the holidays.   

Planning in an organization that utilizes e-business can be very time consuming. It is

imperative that management considers additional marketing and advertising strategies for

their web consumers when creating and revealing products.

Wal-Mart's online experience is proof that success in the brick and

mortar world doesn't create corresponding success in e-commerce.

Offline, Wal-Mart is a sprawling giant, the world's largest retailer. Its

U.S. stores number 3,300 and it employs more than one million

workers, which means about one out of every 300 Americans is a Wal-

Mart employee.

"It's a real category killer," claims Gartner research director Geri

Spieler, who says that that Wal-Mart's success is "what everyone is

trying to compare to." Leveraging that success, Wal-Mart insists that

any company that wants to be a supplier use the Wal-Mart EDI

(electronic data interface). So Wal-Mart can replenish its stock -

straight from wholesalers - faster than you can say "discount retail."

And the giant is getting bigger, Spieler says. Wal-Mart is expanding its

line to include designer clothes like those sold in Old Navy, and

building its new stores with the capacity to offer more groceries. Wal-

Mart plans on opening 70 new supercenters in 2003.

The company markets like the behemoth it is. According to Wal-Mart

spokesperson Cynthia Lin, the company mails 90 million copies of its

ad circular every month - meaning it's probably one of the most widely

circulated publications in America.

But Online……

Wal-Mart's dominant place in offline retail might be expected to

provide it with top dog e-commerce status. But analysts say

Walmart.com is distinctly back of the pack in terms of total online

sales, and a list of traffic figures for leading e-commerce sites released

by comScore Media Metrix for September supports this.

At the top is e-commerce wunderkind eBay, with 34.4 million visitors,

followed closely by Amazon (the site most closely resembling

Walmart.com) with 25.6 million visitors.

Working down the list, Yahoo Shopping had 24.5 million, Dell had 11.4

million, Barnes and Noble had 8.2 million, and MSN Shopping had 7.3

million.

Down at #13, with 6.5 million visitors, is Walmart.com. A respectable

showing, to be sure, but anemic considering that the company has

been a household name for decades, and that Walmart.com has been

selling online since July 1996.

Different customer Base

Wal-Mart's offline retail success isn't replicated online because, says

Spieler, "that's not where their customer base is."She notes the typical

online shopper is a very different creature than the typical Wal-Mart

customer. "People who shop at Wal-Mart like to go to the store," she

says. "Wal-Mart caters more to people with large families and people

who aren't in much of a hurry."The average online shopper tends to

have greater expendable income and place more emphasis on saving

time, she says. Many online shoppers fall into the "time-stressed"

category of baby boomers that like having items delivered.As for the

other reason that Walmart.com isn't an online leader, Spieler echoes a

sentiment voice by many e-commerce analysts. In general, she says,

the members of the retail segment are "technology laggards." "They're

not as techno savvy as their Web sites would have you believe."

The Returns

Indeed, Wal-Mart, like many companies, has had its share of

challenges in its online operations. In the 1999 holiday season, it had

to warn consumers that it could not guarantee delivery of orders

placed after December 14th - unusual for a retailer with such well

developed infrastructure.

Wal-Mart, seeking greater online expertise, spun Walmart.com off as a

separate company, selling a minority stake to tech-savvy Accel

Ventures in January 2000, moving the site's headquarters to Silicon

Valley.

But, in what was widely seen as an unusual tactic, Walmart.com shut

down for a month in the fall of 2000 to revamp the site. That a major e-

tailer would shut down its site in a holiday ramp-up period, instead of

readying a platform beforehand, left some industry observers puzzled.

(And the site still had numerous hour-long black outs after it came

back online.)

In 2001, Wal-Mart bought back Accel's minority stake, so Walmart.com

is once again a wholly owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart. Lin explains that

the buy back was due to Wal-Mart's desire to focus on integrating its

online and offline sales channels.

Gartner's Spieler is of the opinion that Accel wasn't doing a good job

with it. But, whatever the reason, Walmart.com, with or without

outside help, appears to have a strategy for moving the site forward.

Certainly, the Walmart.com site would never be described as high tech.

It still lacks the customer personalization features used by Amazon,

and its straightforward blue and white design gives it a dowdy look.

Yet it does have a touch of trendiness. Walmart.com recently launched

a Netflix-style DVD rental plan. Users order DVDs through the site and

receive them in the mail, keeping them as long they want with no late

fees.

Considering that Netflix itself has yet to make turn a profit,

Walmart.com's new venture is forward looking. And in true discount

fashion, Walmart.com is undercutting Netflix's price by about a dollar.

The site also offers Internet access. For $9.94 a month, you can buy

unlimited dial-up service through Wal-Mart Connect, which is AOL

service offered with the Wal-Mart brand. But the site slashes AOL's

price in half by offering a bare bones ISP client without bells and

whistles like instant messaging and e-mail filters.

The Real Secret

The giant discounter's true strength online is in its bricks 'n clicks

integration, tying its Web site into its real world stores. "We recognized

that one of the greatest values is in integrating the online and offline

channel," says Wal-Mart's Lin.

You can, for example, chose replacement tires at Walmart.com and

have them installed at a local Wal-Mart. The site's pharmacy section

lets you place an order to be picked up locally; you can also view your

prescription history online and set up e-mail reminders for refills. The

site's vision center offers a similar service for contact lenses.

You can drop off photos to be developed at Wal-Mart and see the

finished prints at Walmart.com, where you can e-mail them to friends

or make them into gift cards. If you buy an item at Walmart.com, you

can return it at a local Wal-Mart.

If there's an item your local Wal-Mart is out of, it's likely that the site

has it. Walmart.com stocks 500,000 books and 80,000 CDs, not to

mention replacement lawn mower blades, hot tubs, women's shoes,

and Harry Potter Lego sets. Though the site doesn't release inventory

figures, it's probable that it has the largest inventory of any retailer,

online or off.

With the power of this integration, leveraging its massive offline

presence to compliment its e-commerce operation, it may not matter

that Walmart.com lags its online rivals. It is, after all, an effective part

of an overall retail operation that is expected to generate $218 billion

in revenue in 2002 (to put that in perspective, Microsoft's expected

revenue is a paltry $28 billion). With a jaw-dropping revenue figure like

that, Wal-Mart can afford to take its time in growing its online market

share.

What is the walmart ebusiness mission's

statement?

Walmart.com is passionate about combining the best of two great worlds -

technology and world-class retailing - to give customers a wide assortment of their

favorite products, Every Day Low Prices, guaranteed satisfaction, friendly service,

convenient hours (24 hours, 7 days a week) and a great online shopping experience.

Investment

In 2010, Walmart consolidated its eCommerce activities around the world in a Global

eCommerce Division. This division has three goals: 1) Develop and execute a global

eCommerce strategy; 2) Accelerate global online channel growth; and 3) Create

technology platforms and applications for every Walmart market.

Expansions in Online Market

Walmart is taking a 51% stake in Yihaodian, a leading Chinese e-

commerce website, in a significant move by the U.S. retailer to boost its

online presence in China.

Walmart did not disclose financial details for the partnership, which Neil

Ashe, president and chief executive of Walmart Global e-commerce, said

would help deliver a “superb customer experience” to consumers in China.

“This is testament to how seriously Walmart is developing their e-

commerce platform in China. Having a controlling stake obviously gives

them a much more direct say in how Yihaodian expands,” said Torsten

Stocker, an analyst with the Monitor Group.

Founded in 2008, Yihaodian is one of the fastest growing companies in

China, selling more than 180,000 products ranging from grocery items to

consumer electronics and apparel. Yihaodian, in which Walmart already

held a minority stake, runs logistics centers in Shanghai, Beijing,

Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu and is able to offer same-day and next-

day delivery. The Chinese consumer e-commerce market is dominated by

homegrown online retailer Taobao.

Walmart remains a relative novice in e-commerce in the United States

where the market is led by Amazon. Online sales account for a tiny

percentage of Walmart’s total U.S. revenues, but in the past year it has

sought to boost its in-house expertise by acquiring two U.S. technology

companies: Kosmix, which specializes in organizing information from

social media sites such as Facebook, and Small Society, which develops

apps for mobile shopping.

While Walmart’s website sells dried and packaged food as well as general

merchandise for delivery across the US, its only involvement in selling

fresh food online is a small pilot program launched in San Jose, California,

last year.

Walmart has more than 350 stores in China, where it has been making

steady progress. In the three months to the end of October it reported a

16.1% increase in China sales from the previous year, but although

individual shoppers were spending more money on each trip, visitor

numbers were down 7.1%.

The company this month appointed Greg Foran, a 30-year industry

veteran, as the chief executive of its China business. Mr Foran will take

over next month. His predecessor, Ed Chan, stepped down in October, the

fourth senior-level departure for the China business in six months.

In October, Walmart China closed its stores in Chongqing for a fortnight

after the local government found it had mislabeled ordinary pork as

organic. “Monitoring Walmart is as effective as punching cotton,” Tang

Chuan, head of enforcement at the Chongqing Administration of Industry

and Commerce, told Xinhua news agency at the time.

Mr Ashe said that, in addition to helping Walmart’s e-commerce goals in

China, the increased investment in Yihaodian would “further contribute to

China’s domestic consumption, help stabilize prices, and advance

expansion in the middle and western regions” of China — a nod to

Beijing’s oft-repeated desire to make progress on these goals in the

current Five Year plan.

Walmart has also joined hands with Facebook to Boost

the Profits

Wal-Mart Inc. have joined hands with the social networking giant Facebook to

help its retailers to connect with their customers through its local stores.

‘My Local Wal-Mart’, is the page launched by Wal-Mart, which helps the retailer’s

9 million fans to know what is happening in their nearby stores.

The effort covers about 3,500 Wal-Mart outlets and will send alerts to the

company’s Facebook fans about new products and discounts, the companies

said.

“With early Wal-Mart’s, customers would walk in and ask the store manager to

get a product,” said Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer of Wal-Mart. “This is

going to allow this kind of communication at a national scale. Stores become

more relevant on a local level because of interaction with customers.”

Walmart Buys Facebook’s Birthday And Holiday

Reminder App Social Calendar

It looks like retail giant Walmart has made another acquisition. The e-

commerce giant has bought Social Calendar, an app on Facebook that allows

you to get birthday and holiday reminders by email and SMS, and to post

personalized photo cards and other virtual greetings on friends’ Facebook Walls

on their birthdays.

Here’s the message posted on Social Calendar’s site: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

(“Walmart”) completed its purchase of Newput Corporation’s Social Calendar

products, services and website. We remain committed to providing the highest

level of service that you have come to expect with Social Calendar. Your service

with Social Calendar will continue without any interruptions, and you will be

notified in the future of any material updates or changes to your service.

As we’ve written in the past, SocialCalendar, which was founded by Raj Lalwani

and David Jordan, lets you plan events among Facebook friends, get movie

showtimes and integrate events into a public calendar. Users can also import and

get email reminders about events, birthdays and anniversaries and lets users buy

virtual good icons as presents for friends and to mark events on calendars.

In 2009, the company debuted a partnership with Hallmark cards (Hallmark also

invested in Social Calendar), to allow users to send virtual cards and gifts as

well. The app has 15 million installed users and around 400,000 monthly active

users. Social Calendar cites 110 million+ birthdays, holidays, other special

occasions added by users and sends 10 million email reminders each month.

It should be interesting to see what Walmart does with Social Calendar. The

company recently launched Facebook app Shopycat, which suggests gifts based

on social profile of a friend. We know that Shopycat will function as an online

store itself on Facebook, allowing users to buy from Walmart without every

having to leave the social network. Social Calendar’s technology could be

integrated into this app.

Walmart has been on an e-commerce tear, acquiring technologies and

companies that can help add personalization, mobile, social media and other

functionality to the buying process. Over the past year, Walmart has acquired

social media technology provider Kosmix, Small Society, andOneRiot.

Wal-Mart: An E-Business Success Story

Possibly the single greatest success story of e-business and B2B implementation

is that of the rise to dominance by Wal-Mart in the North American retail market.

Love them or hate them, you have to hand it to Wal-Mart for their impressive

growth in such a short time span. And arguably the single most important factor

in this rise was their harnessing of the power of e-business, e-procurement, and

the adjustment of internal processes to maximize this advantage.

More than any other company, Wal-Mart has revolutionized supply chain

management by using a “pull” model where customer demands drive the

suppliers. Inventory control is finely honed and purchasing trends are available to

suppliers, whom now must be able to quickly respond to the needs of millions of

customers. The business decision to decentralize the procurement process

means that front-line staff in every store can immediately order the appropriate

stock electronically, which will in turn require rapid turnout of product from the

suppliers. This rapid replenishment system, coupled with accurate purchasing

forecasting, helps Wal-Mart reduce overall costs.

While not always good for suppliers in general, Wal-Mart’s power as a giant in

business has helped in establishing new standards for B2B e-commerce. Wal-

Mart’s mindset of cutting costs at all costs resulted in them deploying EDI over

the Internet to eliminate the costly VAN altogether. EDI over the Internet (EDI-

INT) uses a new standard called AS2, a communication protocol that attempts to

make EDI communications over the Internet both secure and reliable. By

mandating their suppliers to use AS2, Wal-Mart leads the way in creating a

demand for a new generation of EDI, and in turn drives the whole world of e-

business forward. In order to strengthen its online presence, the retail

giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has named Neil Ashe as the President and

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its global eCommerce business, effective

immediately.

Ashe will replace the retiring Eduardo Castro-Wright, who will assist the

new CEO in the transition process.