Walmart Leverages Humans to Compete With Amazon
Image Source: Walmart

Walmart Leverages Humans to Compete With Amazon

"Focus on something the customer wants, and then deliver it." - Sam Walton

Walmart is the largest private employer in the world, only the US Department of Defense and China's People's Liberation Army have more people on the payroll. It stands to reason that the retail giant would use its greatest asset in its escalating battle with Amazon and Alibaba for shoppers switching from physical shopping to omnichannel modes. This strategy could be way ahead of its time as the whole retail world appears headed in the opposite direction at the moment.

Mr. Sam's quote above is so on point for today's shoppers. They want simplicity to get what they want, when they want, where and how they want with as little friction as possible. Much of new retail is focused on ecommerce as that's where people are headed but what about the utility of physical commerce and especially service? The pendulum has swung decidedly in automating all of the things, however, my personal favorite Walton quote captures the current environment perfectly:

"If everybody is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going exactly in the opposite direction."

If everything is automated, human interaction can become a great competitive advantage. My business partner Ted Rubin writes about the fact that so many marketers are simply obsessed with the machines and not the shoppers. With the exception of Amazon, all the data in the world really isn't helping most brands and retailers figure out the changing consumer and

"We will compete with technology, but we will win with people." - Doug McMillon

By leveraging its overarching strength, Walmart can position itself to take advantage of two leading shopper trends. One is the retail wreckage currently taking place the other is a predictable backlash to the automation of everything. The largest closure of stores in history is Walmart's gain. All of those shoppers are going to go somewhere and with a Walmart nearby, it stands to gain from Sears, Macy's, Penney's and countless other's loss. On a recent family visit to Crabtree Valley Mall (not to shop but to eat), we decided to pick up a few things for some upcoming summer trips. I found a couple items at Macy's and we literally could not find anyone to check out. I decided to wait at checkout to see how long it would take, the answer was over 10 minutes. Had I not been overtly curious, I would have bailed. One shopper behind me went off in search of an associate and wished me good luck.

Ultimately, those shifting shoppers will migrate some portion of their spending to Ecommerce and have many non-location based options where Walmart will have to compete on a different set of criteria. This is where "winning with people" can have the greatest impact. The opposite direction from most of retail is figuring out how human and machine interaction provides the best experience possible vs. an all or nothing game. There are times I want to talk to a person and times I don't and this is ratio is different for everyone. Of all retail competitors, Walmart and its army of associates is best positioned to experiment with this mix and give shoppers what they want instead of just assuming automation is best. With 95%+ of its 1/2 trillion in revenue still coming from its stores, it also has the world's greatest shopper marketing lab at its disposal.

Walmart can physically test almost any form of shopping interaction possible preparing it for whatever shoppers decide to do in the future. Its latest innovation is a giant drive through self-service kiosk. In a few years when our self-driving cars autonomously leave our garages and head over to pickup our orders for us, this type of platform could easily load them into the trunk for the trip back home. The range of food shopping services are growing quickly from meal kits to personal shopper services and which will prevail will be anyone's guess. Another great example is Walmart's test of using its associates as delivery personnel. Walmart is simply redeploying its human capital to match how its customers want to shop. The retail leader has the enviable position of being able to relentlessly test live omnichannel solutions and then either building, buying or partnering when it identifies what its shoppers want leveraging its expertise with stores.

When I worked as a brand marketer and called on Walmart, unlike competitors, its buyers always knew more than the brands did about their categories. When I worked as a marketer at Walmart, the smartest people in its leadership were always the ones that had worked in the stores and knew its shoppers best (like Mr. McMillon). As consumers choose prevailing shopping paths from new options, human touch will become an important part of the equation and Walmart has more humans than most of its competitors combined. By being true to Sam's values of putting the customer first, Walmart may very well emerge as the ultimate future retailer.

I think the pendulum will always be there and Walmart is smart enough to take advantage of it. Don't forget cyber-security is still a huge issue and if Amazon was brought down by some act of terrorism there will always be Walmart. Smart hey!

Jamie Sims

Desha County Republican Party Chair

6y

Excellent read Scott Sims

Michael Spencer

A.I. Writer, researcher and curator - full-time Newsletter publication manager.

6y

This topic really interests me, I like the angle you took on this John.

In addition to Mr. Troin's remarks, i have heard from too many people that i know personally and can attest to their character and work ethics who have worked for Wal-Mart and don't have many positive things to say about working there... I'm NOT referring to the unending lines of people who will "trash talk" any good employer who expects you to work. These are people who just don't go around bad-mouthing previous employers, so they show some expression of dislike(?) Then they mumble and move on to another conversation. What does this say when I've seen this time and time again? One comment i DO remember is from a woman who had worked for Wal-Mart for 15+ years (this was ten years or so ago) who told me that "Wal-Mart today has nothing to do with the company i started with" She could hardly stand being there another day, But was retiring in 4 or 5 months. Another issue is I just read an article from - Amit Mehrotra, Freight and Logistics Analyst, Deutsche Bank - staying that Wal-Mart had warned their truckers that if they were caught hauling for Amazon would no longer working/hauling for Wal-Mart. (CNBC) in tech world, they've made same type of warnings to vendors. I'm just not feeling the love for humanity from Wal-Mart. Nah!

Jesse Lane

Leading Fundraising & Marketing Trainer & Coach for Nonprofits + Ministries | Founder at goodmakerU & Branches Mission Lab

6y

Great thinking. And all of us in Bentonville hope you are right.

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