Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

Post by nitrogen » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 2:26 AM UTC

handrous wrote: post #22

Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The staff are miserable because the pay is shit, and they’re likely collecting or eligible for welfare. The customers treat them like shit. The shit that happens in and around Walmart’s is soul destroying. If Walmart started treating their staff like Costco we’d see a lot happier staff, and pay less taxes on entitlements.

Yeah, I didn't intend that as a slight against the employees. It's just another thing that makes shopping there unpleasant. I don't expect that employees at a store like that put on a bunch of fake-happiness for my sake, but Wal-Mart's give off strong "I hate this shit" vibes that I don't get other places. I don't blame them (the employees) for it, though.

Post by afavour » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 2:26 AM UTC

bushbaba wrote: post #114

paxys wrote: post #107

Walmart gets a lot of flak for being old school and allowing Amazon's rise, but they are one of the very few retailers who have actually been able to respond to competitive threats over the last decade or two. Walmart Labs has some great tech and hires top software talent in the industry. They aren't shy about making large acquisitions when needed (like Jet). They have built out their own delivery and logistics netwo…

And yet I don’t use them. I use Etsy. I use chewy. I use other niche e-commerce but I never use Walmart online. They can’t just replicate Amazon they have to be better than Amazon.

Post by leetrout » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 2:33 AM UTC

user3939382 wrote: post #113

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…

I don't shop there because I take pride in the things I own and prefer quality. They sell specially cheapened versions of popular brands (e.g. Tide) and their store is filled with low-quality products. It's sad because Walmart Labs has been one of the few groups from a big company putting money behind Clojure/script, which I would like to see succeed.

Post by leetrout » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 2:35 AM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #109

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…

They're all terrible; as a customer I actually love the way they abuse their vendors - Walmart is not going to be happy a lot of returns on your product, they'll just find another vendor. It's like the anti-Amazon, everything I buy from Walmart works well. If both Amazon and Walmart are slime, I'm going to Walmart.

Post by ipaddr » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 2:40 AM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #62

pengaru wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, the DMV has a monopoly on a service most adults require. There are competitors for simple services like registration renewal @ AAA, but that's less available in smaller communities. So when you go to a DMV somewhere there's only one DMV serving the region, it's a pretty good cross-section of local society. Another interesting window in this vein is the local courthouse. The smaller towns don't separate out tra…

Profit per dollar for grocery stores is about half of one cent for every dollar of revenue. Shrinkage eats into that profit very quickly. This is why Walgreens is closing stores in SF. They cannot survive with the rampant unprosecuted shoplifting in SF.