HOW WAL-MART IS CHANGING THE WAY WE SHOP

There have been many articles written about the negative effects of big box retailer's like Wal-Mart. There is no question that Wal-Mart is the leading innovator in the retail world. They have completely overtaken the discount business and dominate all of retail.
Many of the changes that Wal-Mart has brought into the retail arena has benefited not only Wal-Mart and other retailers, but also the buying public. They have pioneered the use of high-tech electronic ordering and replenishment to stay in stock on high turn consumable merchandise.

They track everything electronically. The moment an item is checked out at the register, that item is reordered. Orders from all stores in a region are accumulated and grouped together instantly and ordered directly from the vendor. This is just one of the ways Wal-Mart has lowered the retail price of every item they sell. Some of those savings are passed on to the retail buyer. The key word here is "some".
Wal-Mart's electronic tracking and ordering expertise also decides to some extent the quality of the merchandise we buy and what we buy. Wal-Mart is so large and buys such massive quantities of merchandise, they demand and get the lowest possible price. In the case of small manufacturers and even large ones, Wal-Mart will buy the lion's share of what they are able to produce.
No one is being blackmailed into selling to Wal-Mart. They sell to Wal-Mart because it's good business. They can afford to give Wal-Mart a rock bottom price because of the massive orders they will buy. A company can quickly become a major player and make tons of money dealing with Wal-Mart. But, there is a downside.
To keep Wal-Mart's massive business they have to deliver the merchandise when it's needed. That, sometimes means they will have to decline selling to their core customers in order to fill Wal-Mart's orders. It's not an intentional slight. It's just that they cannot afford to hold up an order for a trailer load of widgets to sell a Mom & Pop store a gross. In the meantime, the Mom & Pop store is looking for another vendor that will sell to them cheap enough to compete with the Wal-Mart giant moving in down the road. Some factories have become so dependent on Wal-Mart's business that they cannot survive without it. What many have found out is that Wal-Mart buyers no longer ask what the price is, they tell them what they will pay and it's always lower than it was last year.
When a company can no longer survive under the Wal-Mart yoke, Wal-Mart will work with them to cut cost. To trim cost Wal-Mart will show them how to slash employee benefits such as health care and wages. They also suggest and pressure companies to move manufacturing off-shore and produce cheaper items.
Now, do you understand why 70% of the items you see on the shelf in a Wal-Mart store are made in China, Mexico, and other countries? The prices are cheap or are they?
What about choice? There are thousands of items on the shelves at Wal-Mart. But, why can't I find ____? Wal-Mart carries the top 20% of a given category. For instance, widgets. There may be dozens of colors and styles of widgets. Wal-Mart will not carry all of them. They will stock the twenty percent of the widgets that generate 80% of the sales. So if you like the widget that's not a top seller, you're out luck.

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