Company prepared to win on four key customer
dimensions – price, assortment, experience and access
In opening remarks at the company’s 21st Annual Meeting for the
Investment Community, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) President
and CEO Doug McMillon outlined the company’s growth strategy,
including plans to invest in new capabilities and to continue
improving the customer experience at all Walmart stores. McMillon
addressed how Walmart is well-positioned to meet the needs and
preferences of an ever-evolving customer base.
Improving on four key customer dimensions – price,
assortment, experience and access
McMillon said, “Customers make their shopping decisions based on
four key dimensions – price assortment, experience and access. What
we can offer them, and how we compete across those dimensions, is
changing.
“Today, a customer has a desire for more items, more assortment,
more choice than ever before,” he continued. “We have tens of
millions of customers visiting us weekly online and through our
mobile apps looking for information, product options and then
buying merchandise from us in stores and online. We’re known for
assortment and we will be in the future.”
Discussing price and experience, McMillon went on to say, “At
Walmart, we serve value-conscious customers that come from all
walks of life and all income levels. Price matters to our customers
and it always will. As a company, being a low cost operator is in
our DNA. This will never change and we will be the price leader,
across a broad assortment, everywhere we operate. Experience is
about customer service. From our associates in stores to our
engineers and data scientists, we’ll invent new ways to surprise
and delight customers.”
McMillon noted that the ways customers access Walmart is being
redefined. “There is a growing consensus that the future of retail
is not just in-store and not just online. The winners in retail
will be those that can put them together. Frankly, we think we’re
already doing the harder part. Locations matter because convenience
matters. We have the stores, the associates, and the expertise in
the physical world that others will need to build.”
McMillon continued, “To capture the upside of our strategic
advantages, we need to develop a more seamless relationship with
our customers. We won't just be a store on the street. We’ll
support our customers’ lives, with them in the driver’s seat, to
save them money and time. We’ll give customers the choices they
want and need by integrating digital and physical retail. As we
have many times before, we’ll exceed our customers’ expectations,
and as a result, we will win the new era of retail.”
McMillon also spoke about the state of the company: “We have an
important purpose – saving people money so they can live better.
Our company is built on a foundation of strong values and
integrity. Compliance continues to be a priority for us and a key
to building trust with our customers and other stakeholders.
However, we go beyond compliance to make a difference on
sustainability and other big issues. Our stores are part of their
communities. We fight hunger and provide disaster relief while
creating opportunities for our associates. We are a company where
you can go as far as your hard work will take you. Last year, more
than 170,000 people got a promotion in our U.S. business.”
Enterprise-wide approach
McMillon said leadership fully recognizes how quickly customers’
expectations are changing, which requires Walmart to think and act
differently.
“In the past, we’ve tended to roll up our plans from markets and
segments, but this year we’ve started with an enterprise-wide
approach. The internet, mobile, data and technology present
opportunities across the world and across our businesses to better
serve the changing customer,” he said. “We’ve taken a fresh look at
where we want to play – what businesses, markets, formats, and
services we need and how to win – what our customer value
proposition should be.
“Our strategy will guide our approach to capital discipline,”
McMillon continued. “We will change the mix of our capital spend
through reductions in areas we have invested in historically to
fund investments in new growth opportunities. Specifically, we will
moderate the growth of investments in stores, and we will increase
our investments in e-commerce.
Winning now
McMillon outlined what the company is doing to win now, noting
that improving the company’s short-term performance is a priority
across all of Walmart’s segments and markets.
“Our supercenters in the U.S. should be delivering positive
comps consistently. Our combination of pricing, in stock, service
levels and merchant skills will generate improved performance in
our supercenters. Our Neighborhood Markets continue to be a bright
spot in terms of comp sales.”
He said Sam’s Club is thinking creatively about the future of
its business and has made some changes with membership rewards and
credit offerings designed to strengthen its position and
performance. In e-commerce, Walmart is continuing investment in its
new technology platform, rolling it out to customers, continuing to
build its next generation fulfillment network and expanding
assortment.
McMillon highlighted three key points that will drive the
business going forward:
- “First, we're going to position
ourselves to do a better job serving customers. We can create a
next generation customer proposition through the combination of
what we do with price, assortment, access and experience. We will
save them money and time.
- “Second, our priority is growth.
Driving demand is the only sustainable way to deliver returns over
time.
- “Finally, we’ll manage capital in a
disciplined, thoughtful manner.”
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world
save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail
stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more
than 250 million customers and members visit our 11,100 stores
under 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 11
countries. With fiscal year 2014 sales of over $473 billion,
Walmart employs approximately 2 million associates worldwide.
Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate
philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information
about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com
on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/walmart.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward
Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements that
are intended to enjoy the safe harbor protections of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These
forward-looking statements include statements regarding the
expectations of Walmart’s management for Walmart, including:
- being the price leader across a broad
assortment everywhere the company operates;
- changing the mix of the company’s spend
through reductions in areas that the company has historically
invested in so it can fund new growth opportunities;
- moderating the company’s growth of
investments in stores;
- increasing its investments in
e-commerce;
- the combination of pricing, in stock,
service levels and merchants’ skills generating improved
performance in the company’s supercenters in the U.S.; and
- managing the company’s capital in a
disciplined, thoughtful matter.
Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors,
domestically and internationally, including:
- business trends in the specific markets
in which Walmart operates;
- competitive initiatives of other
retailers and other competitive pressures;
- the amount of inflation or deflation
that occurs, both generally and in certain product categories;
- the cost of goods to Walmart and the
other costs and expenses Walmart incurs relating to the sale of
goods in its stores and clubs;
- consumer disposable income, needs,
spending levels and spending patterns;
- alignment of Walmart’s stores with
customer needs;
- customer acceptance of new initiatives
and programs of the company, including those with respect to the
supercenters operated by the company’s Walmart U.S. operating
segment;
- consumer acceptance of and customer
traffic on and use of Walmart’s various e-commerce websites;
- customer traffic and average ticket
size in the supercenters operated by the Walmart U.S. operating
segment;
- consumer acceptance of product
offerings in the supercenters operated by the Walmart U.S.
operating segment and the company’s e-commerce websites;
- consumer demand for certain
merchandise;
- the availability to Walmart of the
merchandise it needs to maintain desirable in stock levels in the
supercenters operated by the Walmart U.S. operating segment;
- availability of persons with the
necessary skills and abilities necessary to meet Walmart’s needs
for managing and staffing the supercenters operated by the Walmart
U.S. operating segment and the company’s e-commerce
operations;
- availability to Walmart of attractive
e-commerce investment opportunities;
- the unanticipated need to change
Walmart’s objectives and plans; and
- other risks.
Walmart discusses certain of these matters more fully in its
filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on
Form 10-K (in which Walmart also discusses certain risk factors
that may affect its operations and its results of operations), and
the forward-looking statements in this release should be considered
in conjunction with that Annual Report on Form 10-K, and together
with all of Walmart’s other filings made with the SEC through the
date of this release, including its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
and Current Reports on Form 8-K. We urge you to consider all of
these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in
evaluating the forward-looking statements appearing in this
release. Because of these risks, uncertainties, factors, changes in
facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances,
Walmart’s actual results may differ materially from anticipated
results expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements appearing in this release are made
on and as of the date of this release, and Walmart undertakes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect
subsequent events or circumstances.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.Media Relations ContactRandy
Hargrove, 800-331-0085orInvestor Relations ContactCarol
Schumacher, 479-277-1498
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
