Retail giant Walmart: The secrets of success in chain retail operations

Author: Zhao Fanyu (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: Walmart, this name is no longer unfamiliar to many. In 1990, it surpassed Kmart, which had been the leader in the U.S. discount department store industry for 10 years, becoming the largest discount department store chain in the United States. In 1991, it overtook Sears, the long-standing leader in U.S. department stores since World War II, and took the throne of the U.S. retail industry. No one expected that this company, which grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas in the central-western United States, could defeat all the giants in such a short time and rise to the forefront of its peers. It is worth noting that in the 10 years before Walmart surpassed Sears, Sears' sales performance was still growing at a rate of 14% per year, a speed that many in the retail industry could not catch up with, but Walmart's speed was even faster. Walmart's sales growth rate was almost twice that of Sears, and it was able to maintain such high-speed development. In the 1980s, Walmart's total sales were less than 12% of Sears', but now, the achievements it has made have left all its competitors speechless.