From the top of a story on Wal-Mart in today’s NYT:
“A confidential report prepared for senior executives at Wal-Mart Stores concludes, in stark terms, that the chain’s traditional strengths — its reputation for discounts, its all-in-one shopping format and its enormous selection — ‘work against us’ as it tries to move upscale.”
In other news, a therapy session for Earl Swatstorm concluded, in stark terms, that Earl’s strengths — his tough-guy manner, his fanatical attention to money, and his obsessive collecting of “B.J. and the Bear” memorabilia — will actually ‘work against him’ as he tries to find a girlfriend.
gee whiz, now that we’ve built the ultimate brand and everyone knows who we are, lets do something different and confuse everyone….xoxoxo JohnOnSales
They’d do far better to continue to dominate the niche they’ve defined and owned, while working behind the scenes on a 10-year plan to slowly, bit-by-bit, move on the upscale elevator without knee-jerk changes. Let Target be Target, and Kohl’s be Kohl’s - they should seek to be a steadily improving Wal-Mart.
Great post. I use the Walmart vs. Target comparison all the time to illustrate the importance of focus and “playing a different game” than your competitors. Unfortunately, Kmart has shown us what happens when you try to combine the blue light special (low price reputation) with Martha Stewart (upscale merchandise). They tried to be everything to everbody and ended up being nothing to nobody (please excuse the poor English). I think this is a common problem with people and organizations. Instead of focusing our efforts on our strengths, we try to be “well-rounded” and change what we see as our weaknesses. Bad strategy.
Amen! I wonder who will step into the lowest price/lowest quality/lowest service category if Walmart moves up. Most Walmart shoppers are not looking for upscale merchandise. If they were, they’d be at Target or a department store.
Agree with all. The problem with making an idea stick really well is that it’s hard to unstick.
Won’t work. Wal-Mart’s customers are - collectively - the slack-jawed among us. (Others too, but the main base is the stupid.)
Wow - A little harsh.
I can’t stand the shopping experience at Wal-Mart - or dollar stores for that matter - and since I can afford to shop elsewhere, I do.
Unfortunately for literally millions of Americans, spending more money for a better shopping experience, or for higher quality merchandise, simply isn’t an option. When you have less money than you need to pay for both necessities and luxuries, few people limit themselves to only best quality necessities - they skimp on many things so they can have some luxuries too.
I hardly think that qualifies them as slack-jawed, unless you posit that all people below the
mid-middle class are that way because they are stupid.
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