Wal mart. Walmart Success Story

Sam Walton - King of Retail at the End of the 20th Century. In just a few decades, he turned a small store in the center of a provincial town into the world's largest retail chain.

First steps.

At the beginning of the century, American cities somewhere in Oklahoma were not very different from those we used to see in the movies. The main street where the bank, the city hall, the police station, the hospital, the theater with the theater, the school, the library, the post office, the church, the fire department and, finally, the city’s largest store were located. From this street many alleys branched with houses of local residents and dozens of tiny shops. In one of these Oklahoma towns, Kingfisher, Sam Walton was born in 1918. Shortly after his birth, the Walton family moved to the exact same town in Missouri. Almost his only difference from Kingfisher was that the stadium, where Sam often ran, and the Scout House, where he learned the basics of oratory, were located not in the center, but on the outskirts of the city.
   In general, Sam Walton did not like to recall a childhood overshadowed by the constant squabbles of parents who hated each other. His detailed biographies usually begin in 1940, when he graduated from the University of Missouri, where he received a bachelor's degree in business and from where he went to the trading company J.C. Penney There Sam did not like it - neither earnings, nor the team - and very soon he moved to the trading company Claremore. It was more fun here, although he did not win much in salary. But he met his future wife - Helena Robson, whom he married in 1943 on Valentine's Day. By happy coincidence, Helena's father was quite wealthy.

Soon after the marriage, Sam was drafted into the army: the United States finally decided to fulfill its allied duty and opened a second front. True, Sam’s fate saved the lice from feeding lice in the trenches and touching fraternization with Soviet soldiers on the Elbe: he was diagnosed with either heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, or both at once. And when, in addition, they learned at the military registration and enlistment office that Walton had some kind of experience in trade, he, without hesitation, was appointed the quartermaster (in our opinion, ensign-supply manager) of the air unit. So in the army, Sam Walton finally decided that trade was his destiny.
After his demobilization, an extended (with the participation of Helena's father) family council took place, at which Sam asked the father-in-law a question: either his daughter would eke out the miserable existence of a wife, a sales agent who is struggling with bread or water, or a loving dad will help the young ones to stand up. Dad loved his daughter very much, so there was no doubt about his choice - Sam Walton was given a loan of $ 20 thousand.
   With this money, Sam and Helena opened a store with a proud sign Ben Franklin in Newport, Arkansas. Only specialists knew that this was not the name and surname of the President of the United States, whose portrait adorns a $ 100 bill, but a trademark of the franchise company of the same name.

For five years, Sam turned his shop into the most profitable Ben Franklin store, so the owner of the brand really decided that it was not about who runs the shop, but its name. Once he refused to renew the contract with Walton and he got down to business. He quickly realized his mistake: as soon as he found out how well things were going at the new Walton store.
   It was a shop in Bentonville, all in the same Arkansas, under the name Five & Ten Cents ("Five and Ten Cents"), the meaning of which can not be deciphered. Now in this building is the Wal Mart Stores Museum, which displays samples of half a century old products. Among them is a large thermometer, which one buyer returned to Walton, saying that he "shows the wrong time."

Innovation in management.

Over the next ten years, Sam opened nine more shops in Arkansas and Missouri, studied the theory of business and in practice worked out several independently invented principles for managing the store. By 1962, when Sam opened his first supermarket, his trading creed had already formed.
   As Helena Walton recalls, two passions always fought in Sam: one for mom & pop shops scattered across the city outskirts (“Mom and Dad”, where mom is an accountant and a salesman, and dad is a director and a loader); another to supermarkets located in the city center.
   He very often visited the center and studied their work. " Wherever we are- recalls Helena, - if a store came across our way, we stopped, and Sam looked at it, or even went inside". This passion for exploring other people's stores remained with him for life.
By the way, all Walton's stores of the described period were from the category of Mom & Pop, although, in principle, he could already open a large supermarket for a long time. The only problem was where to open such a store. Sam's acquaintances, also owners of small shops, dreamed that they would once open a supermarket in the city center. However, Walton decided to open it on the outskirts.

The supermarket, which opened in 1962 on the outskirts of Rogers (Arkansas), was called Waltons Five & Dime. It was with him that the formation of the world famous Wal Mart Stores chain began, which today has more than three thousand supermarkets in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, Puerto Rico and Germany.
   This network is growing steadily: over the past five years, the company spends $ 3-4 billion a year on opening new stores. Meanwhile, the key principle has remained the same. Wal Mart opens supermarkets in dormitory areas rather than downtown. This is the first invention of Sam Walton.
   The second is that each of the Walton stores, in fact, is all the same Mom & Pop, but only very large. The buyer is attracted not so much by the wide range and low prices, but by the friendly atmosphere of the store: the opportunity to discuss with the seller, a long-time acquaintance, the latest gossip and, in the meanwhile, make a purchase. Today, thanks to many opinion polls, this is well known, but then, in the early 1960s, it was rather difficult to draw such a conclusion. Sam did. And in his supermarkets he tried to maintain the atmosphere of a tiny shop. He always told the staff: “ The more Wal Mart department stores become, the more we must avoid gigantomania while maintaining the atmosphere of a small store».

Walton always set an example. He tried to communicate with store staff as often as possible and demanded the same from members of the company's board of directors: “ The best ideas came to us from clerks and warehouse workers (among them free parking at the store and permission to take carts with goods directly to the car). If you take care of store employees, then they, in turn, will take care of customers in the same way.". All his life, Walton, like an ordinary salesman, drove a pickup truck. And once, having lost some argument to his partner David Glass, he danced the Hawaiian national hulu dance in Wall Hawaiian grass skirt on Wall Street. After that, customers at his stores only increased.

Scandals and secrets.

Nevertheless, in Walton’s history there is one, but a very large spot that all his detractors pay attention to (and he, like any rich person, always had a lot of them). He ruined the owners of tens of thousands of small shops Mom & Pop: customers began to visit one big Mom & Pop - it. Moreover, Walton was accused of destroying the foundations of America, its concept of "central street", condemning provincial cities to extinction, erasing the unique American charm with their supermarkets.
   In the early 1990s, when Wal-Mart’s annual sales reached $ 50 billion and its stream of criticism peaked, Walton was forced to sit down for his memoirs, where he described how the largest retail chain in the world was being created. The audience finally learned a big secret: with its stores on the outskirts, Walton did not even think about destroying the foundations of America. He simply built them where land is cheaper and taxes are lower. At the same time, "he offered low prices and saved billions of dollars in the wallets of local residents, not to mention the creation of hundreds of jobs."

Another mystery revealed is charity, which Walton had never previously advertised. Having lived all his life in provincial towns and driving around them on his pickup truck, he knew their problems well. In parallel with the construction of a new store, its employees learned the addresses of local charitable foundations. After the opening, each store established scholarships for students of local colleges and periodically held charity sales. In addition to educational institutions, money was donated to zoos, libraries, hospitals, theaters, churches, firefighters - in general, all those institutions that are traditionally located on the main street of the city. Walton did not ignore the mayors of small towns. He established the American Hometown Leadership Award, which is awarded to those provincial municipal leaders who carry out long-term projects in their estates.

Recipes for prosperity.

Naturally, in his memoirs, Walton did not pass by the recipes of prosperity, traditional for this genre, in particular, he emphasized: “ Small store owners may well coexist near Wal Mart if they create their own niche. For example, they will specialize in paints that are available in limited quantities at Wal Mart.».
   No wonder Walton's 1992 autobiography « Made in America: My Story» quickly became a bestseller and caused such a resonance that his merits to the fatherland could no longer be overlooked. And in March 1992, US President George W. Bush presented Sam Walton with the Liberty Medal.
   Shortly afterwards, Walton died. But he died, one might say, with his head held high. As for his critics, you can bet that they sometimes shop in his department stores. And this, in my opinion, is enough to remove all the charges.

Wal-Mart in Russia.

Rumors that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, are entering the Russian market, have appeared since the beginning of 2003, but so far the American network has not taken concrete steps in this direction. In 2004, information was circulated that most likely the first to be met by the less saturated market in St. Petersburg. Today, according to A. T. Kearney, Russia has so far been able to maintain a leading position in the company’s Retail Development Index. However, Americans have their own constraints.
   The main obstacle is officially called the inability to choose a site suitable for trade in Moscow with a sufficiently developed infrastructure. As a result, the American player risks appearing in Russia almost the last. However, they continue to wait for him, linking with an increase in the presence of foreigners hopes for the dominance of Western standards of service and prices in Russian retail.

Wal-Mart is the largest retail chain in the world with more than 10 thousand stores. In them, customers can purchase both food and household goods and household goods. Wal-Mart is America's absolute retailer. And all this thanks to the legendary Sam Walton - the creator of the Wal-Mart network. What he did in business is not for everyone. He himself believes that the secret of his success lies in his endless optimism, goodwill towards all those around him (whether friends or enemies), and, of course, the pursuit of excellence. Everyone who knew Sam speak of him as "a man with a constant kind smile on his face." How did he manage to make a huge global network from one store?

Sam's birth and childhood

Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Oklahoma. His parents worked on a farm, and the family did not have a stable high income, however, they did not live in poverty. In those years, the small provincial towns in America were very similar to each other: in the center there was a city hall, medical clinic, bank, school, post office and other institutions, and around them there were small streets with residential buildings. When Sam was still a boy, his family moved to Missouri, a city that looked almost exactly the same as their hometown. In a new place, Sam began to play sports at a local stadium and go to a school of oratory.

Like many great businessmen today, Sam Walton began to earn money on his own very early - at seven years old he carried the morning press home. An important role in his life was played by sports. Thanks to them, Sam learned to work in a team and effectively interact with other players. In the future, it was this skill that helped him more than once in business.
After graduating from the University of Missouri, Sam began to work in the field of trade, often changing jobs. In one of the companies, he met his future wife, whom he soon married. It is time for military service. Due to a heart ailment found at Sam, he was forbidden to fully serve, however, he was sent to the military unit as the quartermaster (the person responsible for supplying the troops).

Opening of the first store

After returning to a civilian, Sam convened a family council, at which he planned to resolve the issue of his future activities. His wife's father was a fairly wealthy man, and Sam, deciding to use such a gift of fate, asked him for a tidy sum to start his own business. The father-in-law did not refuse, and Sam got money to buy the franchise of the Ben Franklin retail chain. A small shop was opened in downtown Newport, which very quickly became popular among locals. Sam Walton took his first business more than seriously. He personally greeted every visitor to the store at the entrance and showed maximum attention to everyone. Sam often told shoppers that the store did not belong to him personally, but to his entire family. And he often told visitors about his son Robson, whom he loved very much.

Very quickly, the store Walton managed was the most successful in the entire Ben Franklin chain. When it came time to renew the franchise contract, the network owner refused to do so. It is understandable: the owner wanted to manage the store with such excellent sales figures.

Sam Walton with his wife and children move to the city of Bentonville. At that time, Sam did not doubt for a second that trade was his vocation, and that was what he would do all his life. He opens the Five & Ten Cents store, the name of which is clear at what price goods are sold there. Now in this store is the Wal-Mart Museum, where everyone can look at the oldest products that have ever been sold online. Among them there is an exhibit with a rather interesting history. This is the most common thermometer that the buyer returned to the store with the words "this watch shows the wrong time."
Sam continued to open stores throughout Arkansas, gaining experience and shaping his own principles for trading. When he decided to open his first supermarket, he was already a professional in his field.

The goal of Sam Walton was to create such stores that harmoniously combine the pleasant atmosphere of small family shops and the scale of large supermarkets. In search of new ideas, Walton visited almost all the shops that came across to him, and studied how they are arranged.

Beginning of Wal-Mart History

Wal-Mart's story would not have begun if Walton had not had the idea of \u200b\u200bopening a large supermarket in a small town on the outskirts. The fact is that large shops were available only in large cities. But in them, the cost of land and labor was very high for Walton. And small cities were not even considered large market players as a platform for business. Contrary to the doubts of his friends, Walton decided to try.

So almost on the outskirts of Rogers a supermarket called “Waltons Five And Dime” was opened. Locals liked this supermarket because it was as big as the supermarkets of megalopolises, but the prices were much lower and there was a warm, almost family atmosphere. This principle is still present on the Wal-Mart network: all stores open on the outskirts of cities, and not in their centers.

The first open stores of the Waltons Five And Dime chain provided an opportunity to purchase goods not just at low prices, but at surprisingly low prices. At first, visitors were wary of this, but then they realized that the quality of the goods was in no way inferior to similar goods in other stores.

Why was the network renamed from “Waltons Five And Dime” to Wal-Mart? The fact is that the name “Waltons Five And Dime” was too long. At first, Walton wanted to rename his network simply as “Waltons”, but it turned out that the cost of each letter for the construction of a sign is quite high. Sam decided to save money and simply call the stores “Wal.” The prefix Mart (which means "market") appeared a little later. During the first five years after the opening of the first store of the chain, another 24 of them were opened.

Sam Walton always talked with his subordinates and asked them for advice on improving store performance. For example, the idea of \u200b\u200ballowing customers to bring shopping carts directly to the car was given to Walton by a loader of one of the stores, the idea of \u200b\u200bfree parking for visitors was one of the clerks. Walton did not hesitate to ride a regular pickup truck and dress in cheap clothes. And once he even danced the dance of the Hawaiian peoples, putting on a Hawaiian skirt of leaves, right in the middle of a busy street, as he had lost a bet to his friend.

Charges from other entrepreneurs

Due to the success of Wal-Mart, many small shops began to die out. It was just that customers liked to buy more in a large supermarket with low prices, while receiving a warm welcome and an individual approach from the staff. Small shops began to go bankrupt, and their owners blamed Sam Walton, who was constantly multiplying his supermarkets throughout America. Accusations of violating American traditions, which involved the placement of all major establishments and shops in city centers, also rained down.

Walton considered such accusations unfair, and in the early 1990s he wrote a book in which he told the whole history of Wal-Mart from the very beginning. So people found out that Sam didn’t even want to ruin someone’s thoughts, he just did what he liked. He built shops on the outskirts not because he wanted to turn American traditions, but because it was cheaper to rent land.

In the same book, Walton spoke about his charity work, which he previously preferred to remain silent. Walton was born and raised in a small provincial town and knew perfectly well what the inhabitants of such cities suffer from. Therefore, starting to do business, he transferred amounts of money to various charitable foundations for the formation of scholarships for students, from time to time he held sales of goods for the poorest people, donated money to zoos, clinics, libraries, theaters.

After the release of this autobiographical book, the public finally recognized that Walton did a lot for the country and its people. In 1992, the American president awarded Sam Walton the Freedom Medal. In the same year, Sam Walton died, and the business went to his wife and children.

Descendants of Walton

Today, many critics say that Walton’s children did nothing good for the company, but only reap the benefits of their father’s labor and perseverance. Others say that the descendants of Walton are still guided by the principles that their father adhered to in doing business, and therefore the Wal-Mart network will never go broke. One way or another, the children of Sam Walton - Jim, Alice, John, Robson, and wife Helen are among the richest people in the world, and if you add their fortunes together, then the richest family in the world.

Sam Walton's best quotes

1. Always be the first to speak with the person. If I always waited for someone to contact me or talk to me, I would never have formed a network of my contacts, which are so needed in business.
2. Your only boss is your customer. This person is able to ruin an entire company, or demote its director to a guard, simply by starting to regularly buy goods in another store.
3. In any store, sellers will treat buyers in the same way that store management treats sellers.
4. When asked about savings, I always say the same phrase: “In my entire life I have acquired eighteen aircraft. But I didn’t buy any of them new. ”
5. Do not go with the flow. Swim above  him.

The site’s observer studied the history of Wal-Mart, which has been criticized more than once and found itself at the center of scandals, made its founder the richest man in the United States, and is rumored to have influenced American politics by funding presidential campaigns.

Sam Walton, creator of Wal-Mart, was born into an ordinary farm family. From childhood, he was distinguished by his abilities, activity and desire to achieve success in all matters he undertook.

According to Walton, ambition instilled in him a mother who wanted her children to achieve much more than she did. Be that as it may, having received such a push, the future entrepreneur was successful in all his endeavors, despite the fact that Sam was a member of almost all school clubs, went in for sports, earned money on newspaper deliveries, and helped his parents in every possible way.

Walton was a leader among his classmates and one of the school’s best students. He was loved by teachers and had high hopes for him. In general, reading his early biography, many analysts call him such a guy from the cover: an excellent student, a scout, a state football champion, a member of almost all school extra-curricular clubs. Perhaps the only negative point in the entrepreneur’s childhood was the relationship between his parents, who got along with difficulty, and in most cases their discussions turned into quarrels.

According to the entrepreneur himself, at school he strove to demonstrate his best, and he succeeded: Walton became one of the best students in the state. Naturally, with such a track record, Sam had no difficulty entering University of Missouri, where the future entrepreneur became one of the university’s best fraternities, and a year later he was appointed responsible for the selection of new members, interviewing potential candidates from all over the state.

According to Walton, while studying at the university, he came up with the ambitious idea of \u200b\u200bbecoming president of the United States, however, he decided to take smaller steps to such a global accomplishment, first taking a similar post on the student council. The future entrepreneur realized that in order to achieve the desired, he must achieve much greater recognition and fame among students. Walton came up with a solution to this problem non-trivially: he put forward his candidacy for all kinds of posts in the student parliament and met all the students he met on campus. Thus, he was soon familiar with almost all students. Fame and hard work helped Walton to take about five posts in the student council and the post of president of the university organization for the training of reserve officers. Along with this, he remained an excellent student.

In his final year, Sam became interested in business, and in particular retail. Walton knew how to sell since adolescence. During the Great Depression, when his parents were going through hard times, the boy set up his own mini-business, distributing newspapers. In order to do more, he even hired assistants and, as a result, earned about $ 5 thousand a year, which was a substantial sum for those times.

After graduation, Walton seriously thought about whether to continue his studies, but in the end went to work in a chain of stores as a manager. Despite the fact that the position did not look very prestigious, Sam remained himself, becoming one of the best sellers, at the same time studying the features of the work of such stores on his own experience. In 1942, the future entrepreneur was almost taken into the army, but it turned out that he had heart problems and was not suitable for the front. In the end, he was called up, but never became a combat officer - instead, he was engaged in, in his own words, boring things like monitoring the safety of industrial enterprises.

During the service, the future entrepreneur had the opportunity to study the work of retail chains and the basics of store management. He took literature in the library, and also acquired in bookstores. After demobilization, Walton, on the advice of an old friend, turned his attention to the Butler Brothers network. Young and self-confident, he went to them, wanting to acquire a franchise. The deal cost him about $ 25 thousand. Here he underwent a special training course for beginner store managers. At the insistence of his wife, who did not want to live in the metropolis, Walton opened a small supermarket in Newport, Arkansas. It was difficult to succeed in this field right away. The main reasons were the high cost of rent and fierce competition with a nearby store, the owner of which earned almost twice as much as Walton.

In addition, the entrepreneur was dissatisfied with the work of the franchise, which consisted of a whole range of requirements - for example, the need to order about 80% of the goods from them, otherwise the store will not receive discounts, a standardized price level that does not allow real competition, and constant checks. In the end, Walton’s patience snapped, and he gradually began to violate the conditions, while doing this very carefully, realizing that the contract signed by him out of inexperience could become a dangerous weapon against his business. At the same time, the entrepreneur begins to develop a new method of attracting customers. To do this, he places a machine with popcorn near the store. After a while, the same one was added to it, but with ice cream. Two years later, Walton was able to return $ 20 thousand invested in the business. Things were clearly going smoothly, but the entrepreneur was not going to stop there.

Upon learning that one of his competitors decided to expand his business to include retail space in the same building as Sam's supermarket, Walton managed to transfer this space to himself. In the end, it became Sam's second store on this street. The expansion, of course, entailed an increase in staff and attracted the attention of the owner of the building. It turned out that Walton, signing the lease, did not include a clause on its automatic extension after the deadline. The owner of the building used this detail: he refused further cooperation and, well aware that Sam had no other options for the store, made him an offer to buy a business. The entrepreneur was forced to agree, and his brainchild soon became a gift to the son of a homeowner. In the future, this failure will force Sam to sign contracts much more accurately in order to prevent such mistakes.

The entrepreneur's first business allowed him to understand the basic mechanisms of work in the retail sector. As a result, he was able to turn them into “Walton's laws”, which consist of a system of purchases directly from suppliers, regular sales and discounts, as well as customer focus.

In the early 1950s, Walton was without a business, but with $ 50 thousand. Sam opened a new store with his brother named Budd in Bettonville. This time, the entrepreneur did not begin to sign short-term leases, in exchange wishing to conclude a deal for 99 years. The owners of the building were in no hurry to respond to the offer of Walton, who, among other things, wanted to get the premises of a hairdresser located in the same house. The contract was able to conclude an entrepreneur’s father-in-law, who supported the son-in-law in all endeavors. The store was eventually named Walton's Five and Dime.

The main feature of Walton's new business was self-service: up to this point in the country there were only a few such establishments, and those in megacities. That is why there is nothing surprising in the fact that the crowd came to the opening, buying everything with unprecedented enthusiasm. True, it is worth noting that in the future the store’s business did not go uphill as fast as the entrepreneur would like. At the end of the year, his income was about $ 30 thousand, which is much less than in Newport (about $ 250 thousand). Walton was not upset: his only desire was to build his own network, and he had ideas and opportunities to realize his plan.

A year later, several more stores were opened in nearby cities. The approach was the same: a large area, a variety of goods, flexible prices and self-service. The entrepreneur himself liked to tell how, opening at Fayerville, he heard in a conversation of one couple that the store would live no longer than several months. At the same time, Walton, already in a stronger position than at the beginning of his career, continued to cooperate with the Butler Brothers franchise, and specifically with their direction of Ben Franklin stores.

By the beginning of the 1960s, Walton owned 15 establishments in several states that generated income of $ 1.5 million. The jewel of his possessions was a store in the Raskin High shopping center, located right in the heart of one of the first shopping centers in the country: he attracted daily a huge number of customers. In addition, it was thanks to him that Walton appreciated the prospects of a larger business, deciding to open his own shopping center.

This store as a result was seriously damaged by a tornado and, although it was rebuilt as a result, did not return to its former glory, and the entrepreneur, gradually expanding the network, began to pay less attention to it. In the late 1950s, Sam dreamed of opening a large family store in which he could introduce his inventions. In an attempt to implement his plan, Walton turned to Butler Brothers, hoping to get the company as a partner and supplier, but was refused: the brand management considered the project risky.

Realizing that they will have to rely only on themselves, the entrepreneur is looking for the most successful place to place his first large store. As a result, he chose the city of Rogers in Arkansas. He could not settle here with Ben Franklin due to the clear regional division of its representatives. This city already had the owner of the stores of this franchise, which refused to cooperate with Walton.

Having not received help, the entrepreneur made the only right decision - to start the business on his own. To this end, he took a large loan from the bank and got to work. The store was opened in 1962, the businessman thought for a long time about the name, eventually choosing Wal-Mart. Representatives of the franchise Ben Franklin, who visited Walton on the opening day, demanding never again to open such stores in this city, reacted negatively to the opening.

The entrepreneur did just that, after some time opening two Wal-Marts in neighboring cities. Along with this, the concept of organizing stores gradually changed. The first Wal-Marts were discounters, that is, they were aimed at providing customers with the lowest possible prices. In the future, the network grew, and with it new directions appeared, such as supercenters, providing the opportunity to purchase all kinds of goods: from products to tools, as well as regional stores. This whole system was designed to catch the customer in the giant’s network and make him a regular customer.

Initially, Wal-Mart's stores did not yet have their key features: the goods were messy (Walton himself would later say that he was scattered), there were no “Walton rules” that would become unshakable for the network. But here it was about 20% cheaper than that of competitors - is it worth saying that most people were interested in just that. Nevertheless, something had to be done with the placement of the goods. In order to solve this problem as soon as possible, a categorization system was introduced.

Another problem of the company in the early stages was the search for suppliers. Working with Butler Brothers, Walton rarely encountered supply problems, but now he is in a kind of circus. When building a brand selling a huge number of items, he needed a constant increase in assortment and flexible discounts. Instead, managers were forced to dial into the offices of major brands in order to remind themselves of themselves. A certain part of the goods was generally purchased from random suppliers, who from time to time managed to come across. With discounts, things were even worse: large brands seemed to offer them only if they paid their bills within ten days.

Among other things, had to keep lower than competitors' prices. Walton was implacable in this respect: he forbade increasing the purchase price by more than 30%, realizing that this was the key to victory. Pricing for cosmetics and drugs was even more loyal.

The entrepreneur, taking into account the number of Wal-Mart and the rest of its stores, already managed a fairly large network, and he had to start more carefully conducting bookkeeping. For this, appropriate specialists were hired, but Walton did not rely solely on them, taking an active part in the audit process. Along with this, he taught the directors of his stores to send him short daily reports that included information on the level of sales and consumer demand.

Understanding the specifics of trade, the head of the company gave orders to local managers, helping them increase sales, change the distribution of goods and much more. If his presence was necessary in a certain store, he did not waste time and sat down at the helm of his own aircraft. Thus, each of the directors felt a connection with Walton and understood that his boss was in control of the process.

It is worth noting that in control the entrepreneur did not go too far, allowing managers to independently come up with a model for promoting goods. One day, one of the directors of a chain store acquired more detergent than was required. Walton did not criticize him, but enraged, wondering how he was going to sell it. To prove his grip, the leader took an original step: instead of distributing the powder over the shelves, he resorted to such a technique as an exhibition and sale. He ordered the goods to be folded into a huge pyramid, which was visible from different ends of the store. People began to come to the store just to see this building. Needless to say, in the end, the powder was literally dared. In the same way, the brand sold other goods purchased in bulk and at a serious discount.

It is worth dwelling on staff recruitment. Walton picked up store managers and sellers in a peculiar way, luring promising consultants from other stores. The entrepreneur went to a large store, announced that he was going to buy something of that sort, and then he waited for him to be tried to sell the goods. If the applicant approached, an official offer was made to him, including such nice bonuses as career growth (from the seller to the director), as well as the possibility of subsequent receipt of a percentage of sales.

In addition, directors could invest in their own stores (though the amount was not very large: in the late 1950s it did not exceed $ 1000). True, it is worth noting that the network always emphasizes the career opportunities of all employees, but at different stages of its existence there were problems with this. For example, Lee Scott, who eventually became the CEO of the network, had to wait a full 14 years for a raise. By the way, he will try to eliminate the shortcomings in this, of course, important direction.

In the early stages of Wal-Mart, the company held on to two pillars: trade shows like the one described above and continuous improvements. We took into account all the facts, from the popularity of our own products to the study of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors. The latter were a kind of textbook for Walton: what is worth implementing and what cannot be done. Reminding store managers to learn from competitors was the hallmark of Walton, who often began conversations with staff with this.

Self-criticism has become another feature of the brand’s corporate culture. At each meeting of directors of the director, in addition to their achievements, they should indicate failures and minor punctures, suggesting ways to solve them. Walton himself began this process.

With the development of staff, the network grew. In 1967, there were already more than 20 Wal-Marts in the United States, and sales reached $ 12 million. The development of the network led to a wider implementation of the rules that Walton had been developing since his studies at the university. One of the key has become the so-called principle of three meters. Each seller-consultant, being at a distance of three meters from a potential buyer, was obliged to look him in the eye and offer help.

The second most important principle was the departure from working with intermediaries. High supplier prices annoyed Walton at the start of his entrepreneurial career. In the process of developing Wal-Mart, he decided to completely abandon intermediaries who artificially raised prices. Initially, this approach looked disastrous, given the network’s supply difficulties. With the growing number of Wal-Marts, the situation changed, and most of the manufacturers were ready to contact Walton on their own, realizing the benefits that cooperation would bring.

Later, the scale of the network reached such proportions that its management will be able to control some manufacturers, forcing them to increase the production of certain types of goods, change packaging, reduce prices or prohibit the sale of products to other networks. For this brand will be criticized a lot.

Another conceptual feature of Wal-Mart was the opening of chain stores in small cities. This approach looked rather strange, given the size of stores and the volume of products. Nevertheless, Walton understood that in small towns, where people mostly deal with small shops, the necessary goods are not always enough, and the prices for certain exclusives are much higher. That is why, opening Wal-Mart here with affordable prices and a wide selection of products, the entrepreneur easily received the majority of customers.

Walton is still criticized for this approach, because he, according to analysts, struck a blow at small businesses. The entrepreneur himself reacted rather restrainedly to such accusations. In his autobiography, he notes that he did not destroy anything, and small traders can compete, but for this they need to choose a narrower niche and work. The decline of small family shops due to the arrival of the network in the city was called the Wal-Mart Effect. This phenomenon is often parodied in American animated series such as The Simpsons or Family Guy.

In 1970, Wal-Mart was not yet a single company: in fact, it was several dozen stores, united by one name, but with different owners. The affiliation of stores to the network was expressed in the fact that most of each of them belonged to Walton. Along with this, the entrepreneur, actively expanding the business, borrowed from banks, and in the early 1970s the amount of debts reached a dangerous mark of $ 20 million. Something had to be done urgently. Having listened to the advice of lawyers, Walton finally began to unite disparate stores into a company, achieved debt restructuring and began to prepare for the first public offering of shares of companies, which took place in 1972.

Thanks to the emergency measures taken, the financial position of the brand improved significantly, and the company was able to strengthen its position. In the next three years after the public offering, Wal-Mart's number of US customers continued to grow: in 1975 the chain already had 125 stores. Gradually, other US networks were forced to acknowledge the emergence of a major player.

An important factor in the development of the network was the correct selection of the location of stores. Walton himself has repeatedly said that he prefers to inspect the premises on his own. At the same time, there was no universal formula, and when choosing a room, the features of the city and its population were primarily taken into account.

It should be noted and the attitude of the leadership of the network to advertising. At the beginning of the brand's work, this direction took a minimum of funds. Usually it was just a newspaper ad that announced the opening of a store. In fact, in this case, brand fame, the availability of a huge amount of goods and low prices, which residents of neighboring towns quickly learned about: they were ready to come shopping, despite the remoteness of Wal-Mart. Walton in his autobiography several times notes that he received many letters in which people begged to open stores in their city. Sometimes the businessman was even offered buildings that could suit him. In a word, a network that may not have been known in megacities in the province was very popular and well-known.

In addition, Wal-Mart is known for its original approach to employees. In 1971, a system was introduced according to which each employee who worked in the network for a year (at least 1000 hours) receives additional interest on his salary, which he can pick up after leaving.

In 1977, the network growth rate reached 50 stores a year, and, according to many company employees, each new opening was completely different from the previous one. This was due to Walton’s rule, according to which it was necessary to adapt to the needs of people in a particular city, and not vice versa. This rule said that the client is the real boss of every employee of the company and everything should be focused on him. In the same period, the brand, which for a long time developed only on its own, began to make its first acquisitions. A small chain of stores Mohr-Value was purchased, operating in the states of Missouri and Illinois.

An important milestone in the development of the company in 1983 was the opening of “Sam clubs”, which was a response to the emergence of smaller merchants. Seeing this niche, the entrepreneur launched a kind of center for wholesale. The only requirement for those wishing to use their services was a monthly fee of $ 40.

In the early 1980s, the southeastern United States became a key focus of the brand, where the company tried its best to achieve leadership by opening stores and acquiring smaller chains. In 1985, the goal was actually realized: the network included almost 900 stores, and more than 10 thousand people worked in it. At the same time, the leadership ceased to set regional goals for itself, seeking to achieve leadership throughout the United States.

Along with this, Walton tried to create a corporate culture in the company based on rivalry between different departments, the presence of various rituals and a free relationship between management and employees.

In 1985, the dispute lost by Walton became public. The stakes were a Hawaiian dance on Wall Street, and David Glass (after three years he will lead the company), who wanted to have fun, did not allow his boss to do this as secretly as possible. The top manager hired a whole ensemble that played the Hawaiian tune, and 67-year-old Walton, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and skirt over his suit, was forced to dance under the close attention of onlookers and the press. The next day, the photos of the founder of a large network during the dance were in the forefront of all publications. In the same year, Walton for the first time topped the Forbes ranking as the richest man in the United States.

  Not all aspects of the company looked equally relaxed. For example, there were problems with the integration of employees with higher education. It is worth explaining here that a lot of network employees were primarily master traders who studied at best in parallel with work, wanting to achieve higher positions in the company. The growing popularity of the brand has attracted the attention of another kind of employee - yesterday’s students who want to reach career heights at Wal-Mart. The brand management emphasized and emphasizes that both categories of employees are important, but it was not possible to solve the problems in their relationship until the end.

In the late 1980s, the network worked in 27 states and began to spread its influence in large cities. In 1988, Wal-Mart was opened in Washington. This event generated an extraordinary reaction from the K-Mart network, which decided to engage in fierce competition with Walton's company. Their struggle will become the leitmotif of the early 1990s. In the same year, Sam Walton leaves the post of CEO, transferring him to David Glass.

Walton’s departure initially had little effect on the development of the network, because the founder and long-term head of the company remained involved in many things. He is credited with the early implementation of the WalMart information system, which allowed the entrepreneur to connect all the brand stores in the country (almost 1.5 thousand), suppliers and distribution centers. It was its implementation, according to some analysts, that was the key factor behind Walton’s victory over K-Mart.

Having taken the position of the head of the company, David Glass, in addition to the total success and market leader position, was faced with the problem of the lack of a flexible strategy for the brand. In the United States, network positions were extremely stable, but the model required refinement to move to other countries. For some time, the leadership of the network considered the possibility of selling the franchise abroad, but then it became clear that some conceptual features of the brand could not be implemented without the direct involvement of management. The idea was rejected, and preparations began for independent integration into other countries. A standardized approach was chosen: the opening of subsidiaries in different parts of the world, followed by the launch of brand stores and the acquisition of local mini-networks for simplified integration.

Initially, Wal-Mart came to Canada and the states of Latin America. By 1997, the brand had about 1,000 stores. At the same time, work began on entering the European market. In order to integrate the company into Germany as soon as possible, the giant in 1998 acquired 21 stores of the local Wertkauf retail chain. In 1999, Wal-Mart came to the UK using the local Asda network to implement. At the end of 1997, the network was already represented in China, Indonesia and other emerging markets. In order to transfer its corporate culture to other countries, the company began an exchange of employees familiar to such brands, sending workers from the USA to its overseas branches.

The growth of the network and its entry into international markets did not save the company from a series of high-profile scandals. They began under Walton, who did not seek to pay much to his employees, although he promised them various bonuses. Glass's coming to power did little to change this approach, but later on, the difficult working conditions in company stores increasingly became a topic of discussion.

In the mid-1990s, Wal-Mart network executives were charged with low salaries, after-hours work, and gender discrimination. In 1999, the company’s workers union accused the salaries of ordinary workers below the subsistence level. The statement caused a wave of criticism from the public and caused tremendous damage to the brand. Glass tried to justify himself, but did not have much effect on his actions. In 2000, he was forced to resign. He was replaced by Lee Scott, who until that moment managed to work in various positions of the company.

The board of directors has set the new CEO to restore the brand’s reputation and eliminate unprofitable branches of the company. A year after Lee Scott came, the company faced a new wave of criticism. At this time, the book “Counting a Pittance: How to (Not) Make Ends Meet in America” was published, which soon became a bestseller. The author of the book managed to work in Wal-Mart stores, so from within she knew the situation in the company.

Describing working conditions and labor remuneration in unflattering words, the writer further complicated the situation. They began to actively criticize the brand in the press, primarily because of the struggle against trade unions: if the chain management found out that such an organization appeared in one of the stores, the staff was simply fired. This approach has allowed many publications to equate work in the brand’s stores with slave labor.

The situation in the company became even more complicated when several of its employees filed lawsuits indicating facts of discrimination on the basis of sex. The first to sue was former saleswoman Betty Dewks, who was late for dinner by one minute. For this misconduct, she was either slammed with a reprimand or fined (differently in different sources). Men who worked on the net were not punished for this. When the lawyers got down to the Dewkes case, it turned out that everything looked even more deplorable.

In the end, nearly 2 million plaintiffs joined the case (other sources cite a figure of 1.6 million) with similar charges, to which was added the rise of men to circumvent women. The trial of all appeals eventually took almost 11 years. Its result was disappointing for the plaintiffs: the court refused to recognize the lawsuit as collective, the case was closed. The victims had the opportunity to try their luck in court, but this time separately.

With a huge number of lawsuits and fines, Scott had to deal with, who was engaged in establishing the work of the legal department of the brand. At the same time, he had to become a public figure and actively comment on a particular situation. He learned to respond to criticism, began to appear more often in various shows, which gave him the opportunity to immediately respond to any change in the situation.

Scott's next focus was cost reduction. At that time, Wal-Mart had several problematic regions, among which Germany (the brand lost almost a hundred million dollars a year here) and South Korea, where the company also suffered serious losses. In the end, both of these areas were sold in 2006.

Scott tweaked the brand’s public image a bit. At first, the company's campaign aimed at helping victims of Hurricane Katrina was especially popular. Wal-Mart did indeed send entire convoys of humanitarian aid trucks there. The next step was the statement by the head of the company that he was not opposed to raising salaries for all employees, but he could not do this because of high competition. An ambiguous statement led to unexpected consequences: there is still a version that the company has lobbied for a law on increasing salaries for retailers. Rumors that the brand influences US policy are due to the fact that it partially funded both presidential campaigns of George W. Bush.

The company was still considered very disloyal to its employees and not even striving to improve working conditions - Scott was not able to get rid of the notoriety.

Another important achievement of Scott as the head of the company was the search for new effective ways to reduce the cost of goods. This move was a natural reaction from the brand’s leadership to the increasingly popular belief that the Wal-Mart network is no longer the cheapest. Scott in response to this created a special department dealing with international procurement. Soon, serious success was achieved in this area, largely due to the establishment of relations with manufacturers from China, from where the bulk of imports come from. At the moment, the brand has more than 50 purchasing departments in different countries of the world.

In 2006, another extraordinary event occurred - the sale in WalMart stores of cheaper substitutes for famous drugs. This was preceded by the announcement that these products are in no way inferior to analogues, but their manufacturers do not charge money for the brand.

In 2008, a new scandal erupted. In one of the chain's stores, a worker was trampled to death. The case occurred in the next sale before the holidays, when more than two thousand customers burst into the store. Relatives of the deceased insisted that the cause of his death was the network’s disregard for employees. The resonance business almost led to a limitation in the number of customers who could enter Wal-Mart at a time.

In 2009, Lee Scott left the post of CEO, transferring him to another man who worked for a long time at Wal-Mart, Michael Duke. The new leader received the company in excellent condition: its turnover was about $ 400 billion, the public image was much better than before the arrival of Scott. The only problem was the trial of sexual discrimination, which ended only in 2011.

Duke was to continue Scott's policy aimed at further integration into other countries of the world. It was expected, for example, that the new chapter would continue the prolonged expansion into Russia, which was discussed back in 2007. The retailer was not able to achieve much success in this field. According to rumors, the giant was negotiating with several networks within the country in order to simplify the work in the market at the first stages, but failed to reach an agreement. In 2010, it became known that the network abandoned plans for integration into Russia.

In 2011, the network acquired a 51% stake in Massmart Holdings, which opened its doors in a number of African countries: according to analysts, the low cost of goods will allow the company to achieve leadership in this market.

In 2012, the brand was at the center of another scandal. Information about the bribery of Mexican officials by the local brand leadership has become public. This helped the company achieve record levels in the region and increase the number of chain stores. Even a specific amount of bribes was called - $ 24 million. Duke announced the beginning of an internal investigation to identify violators of American and Mexican laws.

Along with this, the brand ran into a problem. Back in 2007, expansion was to begin in India, but strikes by citizens of the country who believed that the arrival of the giant would finally destroy the economy forced them to wait. In 2010, an ambitious goal was set - to achieve leadership positions in the country within five years. However, starting to work in India, the retailer was faced with public protests, difficulties in negotiations and delays in the process of processing the necessary papers. As a result, already in 2013, it became clear that it would be virtually impossible to achieve the goal within the chosen time due to the low rate of expansion.

In the same year, Michael Duke decided to leave his post. Under his leadership, the giant's profit grew by 16%, and the value of shares - by 40%. At the same time, many analysts do not consider his leadership period to be revolutionary, indicating that the growth of indicators is a completely predictable process, and Duke failed to solve the problems with brand expansion, given the failures in Germany, Korea, Russia and India.

The new CEO of the company was Doug Macmillon. Like his predecessors, he worked for a long time in the company and therefore knew firsthand about its strengths and weaknesses. He officially started work in February 2014. During his reign, the company continued the war in one of its main areas - online sales. The giant has a serious competitor in this market - Amazon, which is much better adapted for working on the Internet, with a stable service and a proven work model.

Wal-Mart does not have such a strong position here, but analysts believe that the company will win sooner or later, for which it will have to invest heavily in improving services, advertising and bonuses for customers. There is an opposite opinion: that the retailer will not be able to adapt to a more flexible market due to its enormous size.

In addition, Wal-Mart is still unable to create a successful delivery system, like Amazon. Although at times the company implements original ideas. In 2013, for example, a discount system was introduced in the stores of the network for customers who agree to take goods to their neighbors who have ordered purchases on the Internet.

The development of Wal-Mart online services continues, and in December 2015, information appeared about the launch of the brand’s own payment system - Walmart Pay, which will be officially introduced in the United States in 2016. Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is rumored to be seriously interested in offline business, which will force the two giants to change roles, as Wal-Mart has a strong position in this area.

From 2012 to 2014, there were several major strikes by Wal-Mart employees related to low wages and poor working conditions. As a result, in 2015 it was finally announced that the level of payment would be increased to $ 9 per hour, and in a year to $ 10.

In the same year, it was announced that the company's profit next year would fall by 12%. The brand’s management explained that the decrease was due to investments in online trading, an improvement in the working conditions of employees, and an improvement in the operation of stores to increase the number of customers. Analysts had a negative reaction to such brand actions, calling them ineffective. In 2015, the brand continued its work aimed at increasing profitability. The profitability assessment was completed in early 2016, after which Macmillon announced the closure of 269 brand stores, most of which are located in the United States.

At the moment, the giant remains the largest retail network in the world, which includes more than 10 thousand stores around the world. The company's position in the United States seems unshakable, and even the famous $ 20 billion worth in 20 minutes did not seriously harm her.

Of course, Wal-Mart has its drawbacks: problems with expansion, the struggle with Amazon, and frequent criticism from the public. However, they are all solvable, given the level of capitalization and the influence of the network. According to many analysts, Wal-Mart can only be destroyed by itself, or rather, by its gigantic size. It is not known whether a huge brand with a ossified system of work will be able to develop in an increasingly volatile market, where every day you need to be ready for quick transformations.

Wal-Mart is an American retailer that manages the world's largest retail chain operating under the Walmart brand name. Headquarters - in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company ranks 1st in the Fortune Global 500 (2010).

About 50% of the shares in Wal-Mart stores belong to the heirs of the founder of the company, Sam Walton. Chairman of the Board of Directors - Robson Walton. The CEO is Lee Scott. Hillary Clinton, wife of President Bill Clinton, was a member of the board of directors of Wal-Mart from 1986-1992.

Walmart is the world's largest retail chain, which includes (as of 2012) more than 10,130 stores in 27 countries. Among them are both supermarkets and supermarkets selling food and industrial products. The network strategy includes such terms as the maximum assortment and the minimum, striving for wholesale prices. Walmart's main competitors in the US retail market are Home Depot, Kroger, Sears Holdings Corporation, Costco, and Target. Walmart is a leader in implementing technologies related to the use of RFID tags in trade.

The total number of employees is 2.1 million people (January 2010). The company's turnover in 2009 was $ 405.0 billion (in 2008 $ 401.2 billion), net profit was $ 14.33 billion ($ 13.4 billion in 2008), and operating profit was $ 23.95 billion ($ 22.7 billion). in 2008).

History

2018

Saving $ 200 million after switching to LED lighting

On October 16, 2018, it became known that Walmart’s annual costs were reduced by $ 200 million due to the switch to LED lighting. The world's largest retailer saved another $ 20 million by using the new floor mastic.

According to him, such a project is not only aimed at caring for the environment, but also allows the retail network to significantly reduce costs.

According to CNBC, in the US alone, Walmart spends tens of billions of dollars to buy goods and services that the company does not sell in its stores, but uses on its own. It is, for example, tourism services and all kinds of spare parts. One of these things is floor mastic.

The slogan of Walmart is “Everyday Low Prices”. To follow this motto, the company needs to sell cheap goods, and for this it needs to save itself. The lower the cost of Walmart, the more customers save on purchases, reports CNBC.

In addition, Walmart is forced to save in connection with the acquisition of companies. So, in 2018, a 77-percent stake in the Indian retailer Flipkart was acquired for $ 16 billion. In connection with this transaction, Walmart worsened its earnings forecast for fiscal year 2019, including expenses of $ 0.25 per share related to financing the purchase leader of the Indian e-commerce market.

Online Cinema

Walmart, the U.S.-based retail chain, confirmed rumors in July 2018 that it would launch a video-on-demand (VOD) service in 2018. According to Advanced Television, it is planned to launch the streaming service in the last quarter of 2018 through the Vudu platform, which works according to the advertising model. Walmart acquired this platform in 2010 for $ 100 million.

The service will provide access to a library of licensed TV shows, films and original programs at a lower price than the key competitors - Netflix and Amazon. Also, apparently, the possibility of launching the service according to a free model supported by advertising is being considered.

  Launch of virtual 3D shopping

At the end of June 2018, Walmart launched a virtual 3D shopping service on the Internet. In a special section on the retailer’s website, customers can “enter” the designed apartment, in which things are available that are available for instant purchase. During the study of the house, buyers click on the items they are interested in to get more information about them.

By the time of the announcement of the service, about 70 product names were presented there both from third-party manufacturers and from Walmart itself. Mostly available furniture and the most important home goods. In a virtual apartment you can meet the Microsoft Xbox One game console and Samsung refrigerator, but it is not yet possible to select and order them.

In July 2018, Walmart will allow you to add groups of products to the basket so that users can choose several interior items for purchase at once and imagine how they will look together.

  Opening of the first high-tech convenience store

In early April 2018, Walmart launched, according to companies, its first high-tech mini-supermarket. In it, purchases can be paid through the messenger, and most products are also available for purchase via the Internet.

According to the Reuters news agency, citing Walmart’s statement, this outlet, which is open in the southern part of Shenzhen, has over 8,000 items, including fresh fruit, fried mussels and much more. Visitors can pay using the WeChat messenger using their smartphones.

At the end of March 2018, Walmart and Tencent, a Chinese holding, entered into an agreement whereby an American retailer began using WeChat Pay to pay for purchases in all its stores in the west of the Middle Kingdom. The supermarket in Shenzhen was the first in this project.

In addition to the ability to pay for products through a mobile application, the new point of sale is also interesting because about 90% of the entire range is available at the Walmart online store at JD.com, part of which is owned by the American giant in the field of online retail.

All people who come to the “smart” Walmart supermarket, as well as JD.com users, can order delivery of purchased products. True, the store will deliver goods only to those places that are located within a radius of 2 km. It is claimed that delivery will be carried out in a maximum of 29 minutes.

Walmart is actively introducing new technologies into its distribution network. So, at the beginning of 2018, about 100 retailer grocery stores received Scan & Go service, which allows customers to scan barcodes of goods in a mobile application and pay for purchases via phone. Thanks to the innovation, there is no need to stand in lines and use the services of cashiers. By the end of 2018, Scan & Go is expected to earn in 200 Walmart supermarkets.

2017: Wal-Mart retailer speeds up inventory with robots

American retail chain

2013: Wal-Mart figured out what to do with big data

In May 2013, it became known that one of the largest retailers in the world, Wal-Mart, found an interesting use of the so-called "big data": Wal-Mart accounting systems accumulate transaction data for the purchase of goods and a list of acquired items by a specific person. Based on the analysis of these data, Wal-Mart intends to create individual shopping lists and distribute them using a mobile application.

Gibu Thomas  (Gibu Thomas), Wal-Mart’s head of mobile technology, said that this is just one of the initiatives to increase e-commerce store sales. “The future of retail, paradoxically, is in its past, in the creation of personal interactive communication with each customer individually through smartphones,” he said. Referring to an unnamed study of the US market, he also added that shopping in stores stimulated by mobile technology could double the size of the e-commerce market in 2016.

Wal-Mart Head of Mobile: "The best shopping list is one that doesn't need to be compiled."

Mobile devices already account for about a third of Walmart.com traffic, according to Thomas. Moreover, those users who use the Wal-Mart application for smartphones are more likely to go to offline stores than other customers and spend 40% more, he added. However, most network customers have at their disposal smartphones.

Wal-Mart already has a shopping list feature, but user involvement is required here. In addition, it tells where to find a specific product on the shelf, and also issues digital discount coupons. Wal-Mart also tests a system called “Scan and Go” (literally - “Scan and Go”), which works as follows: customers scan each item with a smartphone when they put it in a basket in a hypermarket, and then use a smartphone at the checkout for self-payment purchases.

Sam Walton  - creator of the empire Wal mart .

Mr. Sam was a truly unique person. Probably the most successful entrepreneur in the history of the world. His company, whose sales in 2005 exceeded $ 300 billion, continues its rapid growth today. With approximately 7,000 stores worldwide and 2 million jobs, Wal-Mart is a great force to be reckoned with. Interestingly, Sam Walton never intended Wal-Mart to be the largest company on the planet; his goal was to be a better company!

Company Wal-mart  Since its foundation, adheres to the strategy of low prices. A strategy through which she can offer products cheaper than other competitors.

On the one hand - this, of course, is a huge plus for buyers. But on the other hand, this entails consequences such as low salaries for employees, the ruin of smaller Wal-Mart rivals (including local players) through which many people lose their jobs. Finally, Wal-Mart is helping to lower the quality of some products in this perpetual race for low prices.

At the same time, the quality of not only the goods that are sold in Wal-mart, but also those who challenged the company by abandoning it. They still have to make adjustments to the production process because Wal-Mart's low prices prevent them from breathing freely. Wal-mart   dictates its conditions for suppliers. Even as big as Procter & Gamble. Everyone does not like it, but there is no choice. After all, it all started with a smile ...

Founder of Wal-Mart Sam Walton  all my life I believed that success can only be achieved due to perseverance, continuous improvement and friendly attitude to customers and partners  (\u003d company employees). America remembered her hero with a constant smile on her face, meets customers so that she talks with employees. Walton had a big goal, and he walked towards it, guided by his values.

Youth

The future "king of commerce" was born in the small town of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, in 1918. Little is known about his childhood, and he himself was not disposed to remembering him. His parents often quarreled and generally got along badly with each other. Therefore, Sam often had to gain life wisdom in street universities. He disappeared in the stadium, then in the company of scouts. And from childhood, I learned two lessons well: you can achieve something only by perseverance, and a smile helps in this.

Sam started working at the age of 7 as a peddler of morning newspapers. In addition, the future founder of Wal-Mart was actively involved in sports - basketball and American football. Subsequently, he will recall that it was football that taught him the real team the game. It was there that he realized how to compensate for his disadvantages at the expense of partners.

After school, Sam Walton goes to the University of Missouri, which he graduates in 1940. His specialty was economics. After all, already at that time he showed great interest in retail. At the same time, he worked as a manager in a small company. All this was a necessary experience for him. At 42, Walton was drafted into the army. True, not for war. Sam had heart problems, through which he was sent to serve in one of the powder factories DuPont. The service was successful, because it was there that Sam met a girl named Helen Robson, with whom he will live the rest of his life.

Returning to his native land, and feeling like a hero, Sam decided to click on his father-in-law in order to get a loan from him. Father-in-law could not resist, and the beginning of his own business was laid. Sam Walton was opened a loan of 20 thousand dollars. Having borrowed another 5 thousand from relatives, Sam and Helen opened with this money in Newport, Arkansas, a store with a proud sign “Ben Franklin” - a well-known brand (under a franchise agreement).

Waltonіv's store was ridiculously small even for Newport with its 4 thousand inhabitants. The only large store in town belonged to Mr. Sterling. It seemed in vain to compete with him. But it only seemed. Sam knew very well: tenacity and a charming smile can change a lot.

He personally met each visitor on the doorstep and showed such hospitality, as if he had seen a long-awaited, dear and close person. He talked to him as if exclusively for his sake and opened his shop. He spent hours talking with every client about everything in the world. He tirelessly talked about his son Robson and family affairs.

First successes and failures

And the ice has broken! In less than a year, the gloomy Sterling was forced to cede buyers to Sam Walton, and then the palm in all financial reports.

Success inspired. Grabbing money again, Sam expanded the trade: purchased a tray of ice cream. Now he felt a real business excitement. That there were long children's lines for ice cream gave him great pleasure. It may even be more than queues at the cash desk of the store.

Five years later, the small Waltoniev store turned into the most profitable Ben Franklin outlet. And the owner of this brand began to torment envy. He decided that it was not the seller’s attempts at all, but the brand. When the next deadline for extending the lease contract for Sam's retail space approached, he was refused.

Birth Wal-Mart

In this city, Sam is opening his first store called Five & Ten Cents. It was then that he turned his attention to the strategy of low prices. To do this, Walton tried to avoid intermediaries in every way, buying goods from the manufacturers themselves. In addition, he reduced prices, making less profit than competitors. Sam Walton believed that in the long run this is offset. He was right.

For 10 years has been about 10 Five & Ten Cents stores are open. However, some of them outside of Arkansas are in Missouri. Over the 10 years, Walton devoted himself not only to his family, but also to the study of trade. He wanted to combine small family shops where sellers are their owners and huge supermarkets located in large cities. It was clear that he needed an atmosphere from the former, and scale from the latter. At the same time, Walton not only read a lot, most of all he liked to visit shops and supermarkets, and note in his notebook interesting ideas that constantly came across in his way.

It was then that the future Wal-Mart strategy was formed. The whole point was that it was simply impossible to open a large supermarket in a large city in the east. Expensive land, labor, competition with large and wealthy companies - all these were factors that could not pull the small provincials. Walton thought, why not start by opening large supermarkets in small towns on the outskirts. Large players of that time did not look there. Rent was much cheaper, and labor was not as expensive as in the center of a big city.

In 1962, the first Wal-Mart store was opened, which was then called the Waltons Five & Dime. The store was located on the outskirts of Rogers, and immediately attracted the attention of local residents. All of them noted that it was a really big supermarket, as in big cities. But besides this, he differed from them in low prices and the friendly atmosphere of a small family store. Finally, it is worth noting that the Waltoniev family hired locals to such stores, which further set them up for the company. Subsequently, it turned out that several generations of a family had worked for Wal-Mart all their lives. Hence the belief that Wal-Mart creates many new jobs. That was before, but not now.

After 5 years, in 1967, he already had 24 stores, and sales reached $ 12 million. Sam remains true to the chosen strategy, and she does not fail him. He himself goes to buy goods, and is not afraid to take risks and lose, because he is confident that he will succeed.

Sam always told his employees: “There is one boss - the buyer. He can remove anyone in the company: from the director to the loader by simply spending money elsewhere. ”

Later, in memoirs Sam Walton   formulated ten universal commandments of success .

Be committed to business.

Share profits with partners (as he called store staff).

Motivate partners.

Discuss problems with partners.

Appreciate what partners do.

Celebrate success.

Listen to each partner.

Provides customer expectations.

Control expenses.

Swim over the course.

In general, some of them are very foggy. Although for the author they are clear and not only verified, but also plagued by rich practice.

Please note that half of these commandments relate to partners. By them, Sam understood his store employees. He tried to communicate with them as often as possible and demanded the same from the members of the company's board of directors.

« The best ideas came to us from clerks and warehouse workers (among them - free parking at the store and permission to take carts with goods directly to the car). If you take care of store employees, then they, in turn, will take care of customers in the same way.  ", - he said ... All his life, Walton remained friendly with everyone, and especially with the junior staff.

Good deeds

Walton's goodwill towards people was not ostentatious, but sincere. It is characteristic that he never advertised his charity. Having lived all his life in small provincial towns, he knew their problems well. When building a new store, he forced his employees to find out the addresses of local charitable foundations. In order to make then contributions.

It became a rule that every store opened, set up scholarships for students of local colleges and periodically hold charity sales. Money was donated to zoos, libraries, hospitals, theaters, churches, and fire brigades. Mayors of small cities did not bypass the attention. He instituted the American Hometown Leadership Award, which is awarded to those provincial community leaders who carry out long-term projects in their estates.

In 1992, Walton published his autobiography, Made in America: My Story. She quickly became a bestseller and caused such a resonance that his services to American society could no longer be ignored. And in March 1992, US President George W. Bush (Sr.) presented Sam Walton with the Liberty Medal. In the same year, Sam Walton died.

Until the end of his days, he remained himself. Star Disease did not touch him. The billionaire was indifferent to fame. He was still driving around his pickup truck, ignoring the luxury limousines. And he preferred the company of his beloved dogs to the companies of bankers and oligarchs.

Wal-Mart today

The Sam Walton affair lives and thrives. Today, this “empire” has more than 4 thousand stores scattered around the world, with a daily range of over seventy thousand products. She is the world's largest retail chain operator, engaged in retail sales of toys, electronics, pharmaceuticals, shoes, textiles, etc.

Total sales exceed $ 200 billion per year. Wal-Mart stores serve more than 100 million customers a week. Today, according to the Financial Times, it is the most respected company in the world, the symbol of which is the broad smile of a cheerful person.

The principles that guided the creator of the trading empire are not outdated. They cannot become obsolete because they are based on the “human factor”. And not only trade, but also any business will flourish if it is focused, first of all, on a person, on his needs. It seems to be banal truths. But it was they who helped to become big businessmen not only to Walton, but also to many others.

If you visit Wal-Mart stores in America today, any retailer or packer will kindly tell you about the 10 Steps Act. This is a list of the above rules, crystallized by "Uncle Sam" half a century ago. But they are relevant today, but because it is like an oath for a recruit.

Appreciate the smile

A future "partner" -seller, entering work at any of the Wal-Mart stores, solemnly swears when the buyer is next to him at a distance of 10 steps, smile at him and ask if help is needed. “The more Wal-Mart department stores become, the more we must avoid gigantomania while maintaining the atmosphere of a small store,” said Sam Watson. And it became an axiom.

And today, eleven years after his death, the progressive inertia of the ideas of the great merchant keeps family income in the top ten   billionaires of the world. They say that his children, who are far in their fifties, did nothing special for the prosperity of the family business. Having in his old age he enjoys working in the garden and goes in for horse riding. The sons of the Walton family are practically not written.

Even Forbes magazine, which accompanies a brief biography of each person who got into the rating, allowed himself to write the same thing in an accompanying article about Helen, Alice, Jimmy and Johnny Waltoni: about the merits of their father, to whom they owe this money. And the ubiquitous journalists are haunted by the thought: how many years will it take for children to leave nothing from Sam Walton’s condition.

Perhaps they are talking in vain on the descendants of Sam. If they continue to sacredly cherish the principles bequeathed by the founding father, then envious people will never wait for the impoverishment of the Waltons. So far, they are all among the ten richest people on the planet. So, probably, his son Jim Walton takes the sixth position with his $ 20.8 billion, the other son John - the seventh ($ 20.7 billion), daughter Alice - the eighth ($ 20.5 billion). And Helen Waltow, the widow of the late founder of the Walton’s empire, holds the 9th place with a capital of $ 20.4 billion. The third son Robson was less fortunate, he is in tenth place ($ 18.5 billion).

Now count how many in the family as a whole. Over $ 100 billion! Where to Bill Gates. And therefore - appreciate the person, appreciate the smile, love your client as Sam Watson loved him and you will see that your business will go uphill!

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