Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats • Hacker News Board

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#71

Post by ineedasername » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 12:34 AM UTC

542354234235 wrote: post #54

hogFeast wrote: post #27

This kind of thinking is why grocery chains have struggled despite having the deck stacked totally in their favour. Online retail, much like offline retail, is about physical infrastructure. You still need warehouses with all the product, you still need fulfilment, all online changes is the balance of those factors. The core assets don't change. I can see how they are losing on branding but losing to Instacart tells…

> Online retail, much like offline retail, is about physical infrastructure. You still need warehouses with all the product, you still need fulfilment, all online changes is the balance of those factors. The core assets don't change. Which is why it is so weird when offline entities adding online lose out over and over to online only. They already have most of the infrastructure and their infrastructure is being paid…

I worked at a Barne's & Noble book store in college right as Amazon took off. I think BN's model for doing online was pretty common, which was that they set it up as a separate business that they made compete with their retail outlets. If you went into a store that didn't have the book you were looking for, the last thing the store wanted you to do was to go home and order it online from the BN website. They pushed you to get it shipped to the store, the. Wait for a phone call to tell you it arrived so you could come back and buy it. Then the store got the revenue towards it's sales goals.

One of many problems was that most people never actually came back to get the book when it arrived, and salespeople either didn't mention or actively discouraged buying on the web site, so the sale was lost completely. On the other side, their online wasn't integrated into their brick & mortar locations until way too late to claw back from Amazon. I'm not sure when they finally added the ability to see if a local store had a copy of the book you wanted, but it took too long because of the internal competition, and you still pretty much needed to call the store and make sure they had a copy because you could easily waste a trip if the inventory wasn't up to date or no one could find the book.

Doing a bad job of adding online to their business ended up making the entire experience worse.

Many retail chains seem to have done the same thing in the early days if trying to have an online presence. Heck, you still can't reserve or pre-buy a game at a physical using their web site, which says it's in stock. And you'll often still waste a trip if you trust the website and don't call ahead.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#72

Post by ineedasername » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 12:41 AM UTC

542354234235 wrote: post #51

Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #16

I want someone , *anyone*, to knock Amazon down. So here’s some free advice to Walmart. Consider Walmart’s weaknesses and how other companies address them. - manually stocked shelves Consider Costco’s model of placing pallets of product on the floor. Most Walmart’s have the vertical space to go up. Obviously redesigning their store experience is expensive and difficult with a stagnating industry and a lot of staff th…

For the people of Walmart, the problem is Walmart makes a ton of its money by vacuuming up all the low/no income customers that would have been served in smaller numbers by convenience type stores. If they go upscale like Target or Trader Joes, they lose that customer base and move into competition directly with those types of stores. Same with the layout. Sure, you or I will pay more for a store laid out for actual…

I didn't realize Chick Fil A was more upscale. Though the one s in my area are food court versions-- are the full physical locations markedly nicer inside than McDonald's? I think their employees do get paid more and/or better benefits though.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#73

Post by ineedasername » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 12:43 AM UTC

lolsal wrote: post #7

The biggest thing keeping me from shopping at Walmart is their anti-competitive and predatory behavior and the way they treat their employees and vendors. Nothing else really matters to me regarding Walmart. There's no subscription service that would get me to shop at Walmart more than I do today (which is zero). There's no competitor that could decline in such a way that I would shop at Walmart. I know many in my so…

Where do you shop that isn't roughly as bad on at least one if those factors?

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#74

Post by idiotsecant » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:46 AM UTC

mike_d wrote: post #23

handrous wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Observations about the nearest Wal-Mart: 1) All the employees look sad, all he time. 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. 3) Sometimes they attempt to check receipts at exit. I don't get that at any other non-membership store. 4) All the shoppers look sad. 5) It's the…

Longer lines and things like the occasional light bulb burned out psychologically made people think they were getting a better deal. The store is just like a Vegas casino, every last thing has been thought out and everything is A/B tested down to a regional and sometimes city basis.

no, it's just a burned out lightbulb.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#75

Post by quartesixte » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:51 AM UTC

g00gler wrote: post #48

godot wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Working class shoppers. Sure, it’s elitist, but people like shopping alongside people in their own stratum. Not going to comment on the ethics/politics of it, but if people like shopping alongside people in their own stratum, then they have to accept that they have to pay a premium for it (i.e. shop at Whole Foods). You can't really say "I want to shop at the discount store but I also want only other wealthy people…

> if people like shopping alongside people in their own stratum, then they have to accept that they have to pay a premium for it (i.e. shop at Whole Foods). I agree that Walmart can be extremely unpleasant compared to a regular grocery store for many reasons. However, I’ve found Whole Foods staff to be extremely unwelcoming unless you seem like you fit in regardless of how much money you make. Can definitely recommen…

Thats cuz apparently Trader Joe’s IS an Aldi’s!

Well, not originally, but they’re owned by Aldi Nord for a while now.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_Joe's

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#76

Post by bombcar » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:52 AM UTC

mike_d wrote: post #28

mc32 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me restate that: upscale and hip targeted at middle and upper middle/aspirational in urban and proximate suburban enviros.

Upscale urban areas won't let Walmart even try to build something. Target worked really hard pitching their upscale "City Target" sub-brand to get San Francisco to let them in.

Walmart is experimenting with something they call “Walmart Neighborhood Market” but I think they’d have done better to leave the Walmart name off it.

People who don’t like Walmart won’t try it and people who do like Walmart will be pissed it’s not a Walmart just a grocery store.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#77

Post by JTbane » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:54 AM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #2

I think Wal*Mart has an image problem. I’ve gone into their stores. Their stock assortment isn’t bad compared to the competition. In fact, aside from Whole Foods on the organic/bio side of things, they measure up very well and better compared to their competition. They are more of a hypermart where you can do one stop shopping ala Carrefour. The issues I see are: very drab color palette. Working class shoppers. Sure,…

Walmart is also one of the few stores that interrogate you on the way out as to what you purchased. Just not a good look.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#78

Post by georgeecollins » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:55 AM UTC

edgyquant wrote: post #60

handrous wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Observations about the nearest Wal-Mart: 1) All the employees look sad, all he time. 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. 3) Sometimes they attempt to check receipts at exit. I don't get that at any other non-membership store. 4) All the shoppers look sad. 5) It's the…

#3 really irks me, because they don’t check everyone’s receipts. I was stopped and asked for a receipt two days ago for a gallon of milk I had in the cart because it “wasn’t in a bag” while other people walked past. I can understand e.g. when I buy a TV, but a gallon of milk is ridiculous and profiling.

I think this is a sign of a regional monopoly, like when the cable company gives you a six hour window for a service call. It probably isn't worth the small amount of theft you stop to alienate customers (otherwise grocers in Los Angeles would do it) by checking receipts. But if you are the only affordable store in town you don't really have to worry about alienating customers.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#79

Post by bombcar » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:58 AM UTC

Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #16

I want someone , *anyone*, to knock Amazon down. So here’s some free advice to Walmart. Consider Walmart’s weaknesses and how other companies address them. - manually stocked shelves Consider Costco’s model of placing pallets of product on the floor. Most Walmart’s have the vertical space to go up. Obviously redesigning their store experience is expensive and difficult with a stagnating industry and a lot of staff th…

Costco stocks 4,000 products. Walmart stocks 100,000.

A Walmart with things palleted like Costco would be roughly twenty times the size.

It would be amazing but terrifying.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#80

Post by jcims » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 1:58 AM UTC

handrous wrote: post #12

mc32 wrote: post #2

I think Wal*Mart has an image problem. I’ve gone into their stores. Their stock assortment isn’t bad compared to the competition. In fact, aside from Whole Foods on the organic/bio side of things, they measure up very well and better compared to their competition. They are more of a hypermart where you can do one stop shopping ala Carrefour. The issues I see are: very drab color palette. Working class shoppers. Sure,…

Observations about the nearest Wal-Mart: 1) All the employees look sad, all he time. 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. 3) Sometimes they attempt to check receipts at exit. I don't get that at any other non-membership store. 4) All the shoppers look sad. 5) It's the…

Broke people need to shop too.