More Layoffs at Walmart

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
wnetmacman
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by wnetmacman »

klkla wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 5:08 pm Sam Walton is rolling over in his grave. The reason WalMart became such a big success was because it was easy to buy things at the lowest price. No games. No gimmicks. It sounds like things have really changed there.
I don't completely disagree. Sam Walton was the first to say that he didn't fully understand the grocery business. After all, they had only opened between 6-10 Supercenters before his death, so he didn't really see the full benefit of them. But he did believe in them. I think Walmart had to evolve somewhat, away from the fully non-gimmicky environment, or they wouldn't have survived in the grocery business.
mbz321 wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 5:44 pm I'm not even talking about advertised items...I'm taking about regular everyday prices. Walmart in reality really isn't that much lower, if they are lower at all. Now in certain markets (Florida as an example), they are lower, because the only real large scale competition they have is Publix and to a much lesser extent, Winn Dixie. Savings Catcher is about as gimmicky has having loss leaders. Walmart also does horribly in my area because every grocery chain except for one that I can think of doubles manufacturers coupons to a certain value, and Walmart won't do it.
Where I live in Louisiana, there are 4 main competitors: Albertsons, Super 1 Foods (Brookshire Grocery Company), Winn Dixie (though lesser than before) and Rouses. None of those multiply coupons in any way. I think the only company with a Louisiana presence who does is Kroger, and that's just Lake Charles, Alexandria and Shreveport.

As far as competitive prices, like I said, it isn't about everyday pricing. You go in to save on what you can to get it to balance out with other stores, and use Savings Catcher to get back in. Essentially, the tortoise (slow and steady) wins the race over the rabbit (all out fast but haphazard). Albertsons is trying this philosophy, but their center store pricing is so bad that it doesn't offset everything else. Winn Dixie is the same. Super 1 Foods somewhat balances out, but there aren't as many of them, and Rouses somewhat balances, plus they have the peripheral departments to outweigh pricing. It's all about how you want to shop.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 5:08 pm
wnetmacman wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 2:28 pm If a competitor has an advertised price, you can still use the Savings Catcher to get $$$ back, which gets you back into the store. They're banking on you beating the competitor's sale prices. I can do that in one store instead of 3. No, Walmart doesn't do loss leaders, which may be a mistake. Every store they compete with, they compete on the hopes that you'll use Savings Catcher, which requires you to come back to the store.
Sam Walton is rolling over in his grave. The reason WalMart became such a big success was because it was easy to buy things at the lowest price. No games. No gimmicks. It sounds like things have really changed there.
I'm trying to figure out how Savings Catcher works exactly. I tried it a couple times and it took 4-5 days for me to get the money back into my account. It showed very specifically what stores at what addresses they will "catch" - a Raleys, a Smiths, and a Save Mart that were within 5 miles of the Wal Mart in question. I just wonder how they do it. Does anyone know the inner workings on this program?

I somehow envision my receipt submitted to some person somewhere, and they in turn analyze my receipt against the online versions of the Raleys, Smiths, and Save Mart weekly ads...

Sam Walton also built a company that relied on automation and strong systems. I have no idea how the above program works but if my hypothesis is correct this program is anything but.

I also remember when Wal Mart's policy on competitor ads was to "BEAT" the competitor for every single customer. DIsplays of items up front and cut outs from various competitor ads; Wal Mart, Target, Kmart, all of the drugstores showing the competitor ad price and how Wal Mart is a dime lower or some small bit lower. That was the Sam Walton way.

Savings Catcher, which costs money to implement, puts the customer through hoops, etc. is just not.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by wnetmacman »

storewanderer wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 8:36 pm I'm trying to figure out how Savings Catcher works exactly. I tried it a couple times and it took 4-5 days for me to get the money back into my account. It showed very specifically what stores at what addresses they will "catch" - a Raleys, a Smiths, and a Save Mart that were within 5 miles of the Wal Mart in question. I just wonder how they do it. Does anyone know the inner workings on this program?
Essentially, this is how it works: Walmart takes the sale papers of all competitors within a certain distance of the store. This includes Dollar stores (DG/Family Dollar/Fred's), Supermarkets (Kroger/Albertsons/Regionals) and other discount stores (Kmart/Target/others). If the current sale ad shows a lower price, you get the difference back on your gift card, which is tied to the Walmart app on your phone. It takes from 3-5 days for all the ads to process in certain areas. I've used it very successfully, and always got the right amounts back. Walmart is a big enough company to get all those ads and digitize quickly.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by klkla »

wnetmacman wrote: January 23rd, 2018, 8:49 pm Essentially, this is how it works: Walmart takes the sale papers of all competitors within a certain distance of the store. This includes Dollar stores (DG/Family Dollar/Fred's), Supermarkets (Kroger/Albertsons/Regionals) and other discount stores (Kmart/Target/others). If the current sale ad shows a lower price, you get the difference back on your gift card, which is tied to the Walmart app on your phone. It takes from 3-5 days for all the ads to process in certain areas. I've used it very successfully, and always got the right amounts back. Walmart is a big enough company to get all those ads and digitize quickly.
Why don't they take the sales papers from all their competitors and... Lower their Prices!

In their heyday:
WalMart. Always Low Prices

Now:
WalMart. Low Prices if you jump trough hoops and wait 3-5 days for processing.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

It seems that they've used the entire grocery segment as a loss leader to get you into the store to buy more on the GM side. Very cynical way of doing business and just another reason I shop there as little as possible. Look at their track record when it comes to stand alone grocery stores. I wouldn't exactly call Neighborhood Market a rousing success. I guess they do OK overall but the only one they had in my immediate area I don't think lasted more than a few years if that.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by babs »

I've done countless price comparisons around here with Winco. Winco beats them on price every time. I don't get the allure of Walmart grocery besides convenience. The quality is lousy, the employees don't seem to care, nothing unique about the selection, the deli makes 7-11 look good, I've never understood why they done as well as they have.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by lola42 »

I think the Corporate layoffs are simply cutting back on brick & mortar jobs and moving more towards online. I don't recall seeing new hire numbers, but I'm guessing they balance the layoffs. I've viewed the Walmart migration towards online to be calculated and diligent. They acknowledged the Amazon rise early and reacted quickly and strategically.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by buckguy »

Given that Amazon's threat to retail (first in books, the elsewhere) was apparent 10-15 ago, I don't think their response has been very timely. their core customer isn't a web shopper. they've bought other businesses, but I would guess that their very hierarchical, uniformity driven management model is a problem in running these businesses. WM's biggest strength is logistics and that's what they bring to web commerce, but otherwise I doubt that they will be a serious competitor to Amazon, who has a more affluent customer base. WM helped launch the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions which unfortunately means they contributed to the decline of their core customers and they have not figured out how to do what they should have done about 25 years ago to not become the retailer for people with no other options.
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Re: More Layoffs at Walmart

Post by wnetmacman »

buckguy wrote: January 25th, 2018, 7:16 am Given that Amazon's threat to retail (first in books, the elsewhere) was apparent 10-15 ago, I don't think their response has been very timely. their core customer isn't a web shopper. they've bought other businesses, but I would guess that their very hierarchical, uniformity driven management model is a problem in running these businesses. WM's biggest strength is logistics and that's what they bring to web commerce, but otherwise I doubt that they will be a serious competitor to Amazon, who has a more affluent customer base. WM helped launch the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions which unfortunately means they contributed to the decline of their core customers and they have not figured out how to do what they should have done about 25 years ago to not become the retailer for people with no other options.
Amazon's initial threat was indeed only in books. It took them a while to break out into other items. A large assortment of Amazon's initial items weren't items that Walmart sold (high end electronics, hard to find items, and the like). So Walmart's slow response is justified. Walmart isn't one to do knee-jerk reactions just because someone else is doing something. I do believe much of their recent update has been in response to Amazon. They do offer the ability to pick up in the stores anywhere, which Amazon still doesn't have the full capability of doing.

Walmart is trying to adjust wages. Frankly, if you don't want to work for $11/hour, get training and learn another job, but the complaining about low wages is for the birds. ANYBODY can learn other tasks.

Right now, in most of their markets, they're the only viable game. Target doesn't carry everything at lower prices; Kmart is fading fast. The Dollar stores (Dollar General and Family Dollar) are gaining ground but simply don't have the single store throughput that a Walmart has in terms of volume. Most of these stores can't keep the stock on hand, or are just absolutely filthy. Walmart is at least keeping their stores stocked (as best as they can) and fairly clean.
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