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Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

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Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#221

Post by nemothekid »

crowman wrote: post #194
_wp3r wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear the actual wealthy people always shop at Walmart, because, ya know, they are wealthy because they don't waste money on more expensive groceries because the floors are nicer, and they probably don't mind being around other hard working people. Only half tongue in cheek, and completely agreeing with you.

Almost correct- they get the curbside dropoff and never leave their car. At least, this is what the high (~5MM) net worth family I know does.

The "wealthy people only shop frugally" is about as truthful as "millenials are poor because they only eat avocado toast."

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#222

Post by Scoundreller »

raverbashing wrote: post #218
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd just like them to observe Walton's imposed limit of no more than two customers in line. I'm getting really fed up with retailers that won't staff their registers. And no, self checkout is a slap in the face where you exit the store as a presumed criminal after providing free labor. It's like they want me to buy from Amazon.

Self-checkout? Best invention of the 2000's

Sorta. Took them a while to turn it off criminal mode. Wasn’t long ago you had to bag an item before you could scan the next. But I have more than 1 hand. Sometimes multiple people.

French ones still run in criminal mode.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#223

Post by kgantchev »

gruez wrote: post #189
kevinventullo wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the last 20 years they’re stock has only gone up 150%.... To be fair, they’ve been paying ~ 2% dividend yield that whole time. Still, if your comp is mostly in stock, those dividend payments hurt versus something like a buyback.

>To be fair, they’ve been paying ~ 2% dividend yield that whole time. If you check the total return price, they're actually doing better than the s&p 500. total return for walmart: 223% ( https://ycharts.com/companies/WMT/total_return_price ) total return for S&P 500: 221% ( https://ycharts.com/companies/SPY/total_return_price )

So they're an average corp...

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#224

Post by LB232323 »

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,…

I certainly don't support the labor practices of Walmart, but I think you are the one with the serious image problem. You think you really exist in a different "stratum" when you still have to buy your own groceries?

You aren't elitist, you aren't even close to "elite." You're just an asshole.

Here's a fun fact, Whole Foods exploited slave labor to supply their tilapia. Here's another fun fact, if you need to work then you are working class.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#225

Post by dylan604 »

dmfb wrote: post #181
Spooky23 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart has some weird cultural issues that make store operations hard to adapt. It’s a pretty miserable place to work. They hire anyone, turn them out quickly, and have weird work rules for things like gathering in a group. Target’s pickup operation is superior in every dimension. They made the decision to put it front and center, and their employees seem happier. It takes The other issue they have is that their log…

The rules against gathering. in a group are not just weird. It’s a blatant anti-union mechanism.

As a customer visiting any store (not just Walmart), it is rather frustrating to need assistance from an employee but unable to find one until you find a gaggle of them all "hanging out". I have no idea what they are doing. They could be talking about unions, they could be talking about the weather, or they could all have just completed assiting the movement of a heavy item require 4 "teammates". Either way, it is not a good look for the customer.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#226

Post by [deleted] »

MattGaiser wrote: post #170
Spooky23 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart has some weird cultural issues that make store operations hard to adapt. It’s a pretty miserable place to work. They hire anyone, turn them out quickly, and have weird work rules for things like gathering in a group. Target’s pickup operation is superior in every dimension. They made the decision to put it front and center, and their employees seem happier. It takes The other issue they have is that their log…

> Walmart has some weird cultural issues that make store operations hard to adapt. It’s a pretty miserable place to work. They hire anyone, turn them out quickly, and have weird work rules for things like gathering in a group. Is any company in retail any different? Except for the "hire anyone", most people would probably say that describes Amazon.

[deleted]

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#227

Post by leetrout »

LegitShady wrote: post #215
leetrout wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are anti consumer on returns lately. I bought a Keurig that broke on the 3rd day and they wouldn’t take it back because I bought the extra warranty they sell on them. Warranty company wouldn’t do anything because it was within the store refund timeframe. I’ve not had that problem with Amazon.

>I bought a Keurig that broke on the 3rd day and they wouldn’t take it back because I bought the extra warranty they sell on them. They wouldn't take something back within the return period because you bought an extra warranty? What am I missing here? How did they justify it?

The warranty they up sell at checkout isn’t through Walmart which I didn’t know at the time but of course learned real quick.

The store manager eventually told me they would not accept the return on anything that had the extended warranty which is conveniently right on the receipt.

So this is the second time trying to return it when I wait to get a manager so I went to my car and called the warranty place again (Asserion) and got an agent on the line. Told the agent I called the day before, followed the advice to come back and get a manager and it didn’t work and she agreed to stay on the line while I walked back in the store to get the manager again.

She was awesome and a total boss. I put her on speaker, told the employee at the returns desk she’d speak to me and the manager and we waited five more minutes on him.

When he came back again I told the manager I had the warranty company on the phone refusing to service the contract and she rattled off all the info he needed to hear and what Asserions policies were and that he needed to do the manufacturer return on his side. 10/10 great experience with her.

Then he said go get one off the shelf and take the swap.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#229

Post by dylan604 »

turtlebits wrote: post #212
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…

The Walmart in-store pickup/returns experience is horrible. Long lines, employees are slow and unorganized. Several times I've gone to pick up an order and waited an addition 10+ minutes to have someone bring the item to the front of the store. I would say the only thing that makes them competitive is their price.

>I would say the only thing that makes them competitive is their price

That's the entire story of Walmart. Pretty much the only person that smiles is the greeter, and they aren't always very friendly.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#230

Post by xeromal »

reducesuffering wrote: post #175
barry-cotter wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re just describing how Target and Walmart have different business models, same as CostCo does. There’s a continuum there. Walmart has lower profit margins, lower prices, stocks many more items, has many more options for size rather than all bulk and will hire far lower quality workers. CostCo is at the other end on all of those and Target is intermediate. People really, really care about price.

I’m fairly certain Costco has lower prices and profit margins than Target. So it’s not “on the other end on all of those” with Target being intermediate.

Costco's high barrier is the membership cost where they derive a substantial amount of their profit.
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