Wal-Mart fine-tunes products strategy
By Chuck Bartels |
June 5, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WAL-MART Stores Inc executives pledged yesterday at the company's annual shareholders extravaganza to continue to change the company's merchandise mix and to rebuild sales.
The world's largest retailer reached US$100 billion in sales in its international division for the first time and its Sam's Club warehouse stores built membership to 47 million.
But its Walmart grocery and general merchandise stores saw traffic decline after the company changed its merchandise, reducing the number of products on its shelves as part of a campaign to declutter stores.
Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said high fuel prices, competition and unemployment have also pressured sales.
"These external headwinds are real and they have contributed to slower traffic in our stores over the last couple of quarters," Castro-Wright said. Those factors also led to four consecutive quarters of a decline in revenue at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of how a retailer is faring.
Castro-Wright also alluded to Wal-Mart's removal of some name-brand items from its shelves and replacing them with goods under Wal-Mart's own label.
"We have been fine-tuning our merchandise strategy," he said.
Castro-Wright said the company is doing more to call attention to its price rollbacks to help build customer loyalty.
"In any economy, in any competition, your Walmart will always be the price leader," he said.
Sam's Club President and CEO Brian Cornell said the warehouse store division closed underperforming stores, increased membership income and said traffic rose in all quarters last fiscal year.
The world's largest retailer reached US$100 billion in sales in its international division for the first time and its Sam's Club warehouse stores built membership to 47 million.
But its Walmart grocery and general merchandise stores saw traffic decline after the company changed its merchandise, reducing the number of products on its shelves as part of a campaign to declutter stores.
Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said high fuel prices, competition and unemployment have also pressured sales.
"These external headwinds are real and they have contributed to slower traffic in our stores over the last couple of quarters," Castro-Wright said. Those factors also led to four consecutive quarters of a decline in revenue at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of how a retailer is faring.
Castro-Wright also alluded to Wal-Mart's removal of some name-brand items from its shelves and replacing them with goods under Wal-Mart's own label.
"We have been fine-tuning our merchandise strategy," he said.
Castro-Wright said the company is doing more to call attention to its price rollbacks to help build customer loyalty.
"In any economy, in any competition, your Walmart will always be the price leader," he said.
Sam's Club President and CEO Brian Cornell said the warehouse store division closed underperforming stores, increased membership income and said traffic rose in all quarters last fiscal year.
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