Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats • Hacker News Board

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#231

Post by mike_d » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:04 AM UTC

wldcordeiro wrote: post #102

mike_d wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The issues I see are: very drab color palette. Working class shoppers. Sure, it’s elitist, but people like shopping alongside people in their own stratum. That is just the store you went to. The company crunches tons of data before they decide on store placement, and grouping like-shoppers by socioeconomic status is absolutely a goal. My hometown for example - one side of town has a Walmart that is very run down an…

Jet was an acquisition though. I get they tried to keep some of its "upscale" shine but they eventually shuttered it for their own online offering.

It was an aquihire. "Jet" itself was an empty shell that the Walmart marketing folks could build a higher end brand inside.

The shuttering happened because the website was racking up seven-figure monthly Azure bills and bringing in five-figure revenue. Marc just couldn't figure out how to drive traffic without all his domains he sold to Amazon (soap.com, diapers.com, etc).

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#232

Post by sumedh » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:04 AM UTC

kgantchev wrote: post #223

gruez wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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...

For a giant company, isnt that a good thing?

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#233

Post by LegitShady » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:06 AM UTC

leetrout wrote: post #227

LegitShady wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 (Asse…

Sounds like a rogue manager, but if it's policy it needs to be public so that people stop buying the extended warranty.

Even though you're over with it now, I would escalate this to walmart corporate and see if they have this as official policy or not. It seems to me like the manager tried to commit fraud unless he can point to where that's official policy or not.

Either way I wouldn't buy an asserion/asurion warranty for any amount of money.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#234

Post by Auracle » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:07 AM UTC

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

It’s great when you want to buy a few things. It’s terrible if you have a cart full of things.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#235

Post by xeromal » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:08 AM UTC

quickthrowman wrote: post #24

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…

There are no ethical global multinational companies, sorry to burst your bubble. Every other giant retailer is doing the same to employees, vendors, etc.

Costco treats their employees very well comparitvely.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#236

Post by olivermarks » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:12 AM UTC

dimmke wrote: post #214

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…

This is really the problem with everything Walmart has done wrt eCommerce/online pickup IMO - It's like all the pieces are there, but they can't bring them all together. I've hit their website from Google looking for an item, and the lead time to ship is 2+ weeks and it's highlighted that it's sourced from a partner. Putting aside the obvious - it's just a worse deal. For most items, they're competing with 1-2 days,…

'Amazon nails in person pickup or Walmart nails online shopping.'

Amazon has nailed free shipping with prime. In person pickup costs money in time, fuel, available vehicle. Feels like checkmate in 2021 but this may change

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#237

Post by dimmke » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:17 AM UTC

olivermarks wrote: post #236

dimmke wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really the problem with everything Walmart has done wrt eCommerce/online pickup IMO - It's like all the pieces are there, but they can't bring them all together. I've hit their website from Google looking for an item, and the lead time to ship is 2+ weeks and it's highlighted that it's sourced from a partner. Putting aside the obvious - it's just a worse deal. For most items, they're competing with 1-2 days,…

'Amazon nails in person pickup or Walmart nails online shopping.' Amazon has nailed free shipping with prime. In person pickup costs money in time, fuel, available vehicle. Feels like checkmate in 2021 but this may change

To be clear, I think it's way more important for Walmart to nail online shopping than vice versa, but clearly Amazon feels having a physical presence is important.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#238

Post by yalogin » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:19 AM UTC

It’s great to see they are brutally honest with themselves, I didn’t expect anything else.

Walmart’s problem is with urban and close urban centers. Their image in these areas is in the dumpster. I don’t know how they can improve it either. The one thing that could help is to throw their color palette out and pick a vibrant one. Their stores look really dull.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#239

Post by JMTQp8lwXL » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:21 AM UTC

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…

They could have been Sears, but they haven't made it far enough. They're doing enough to survive, but they're acting reactively, not proactively, to a changing environment. They will never come close to exceeding Amazon's level of innovation, for better or for worse. I think pointing to Jet detracts from their progress, given the Jet acquisition was a complete flop. They're fighting with everything they've got. But not even Walmart can truly compete. It's unclear if its talent, a leadership issue, the company's brand, or what exactly is holding Walmart back. I suppose that's good for Walmart: a lot of the elements look right to position them well. They just haven't figured it out 100%.

Re: Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats

#240

Post by gftttgggfffddd » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 5:23 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…

Uniquely talentless when it comes to existing in space

Brilliant turn of phrase!