Wal-Mart, 2005
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• Wal-Mart has a very broad market segment, with an appeal for many demographics: from low to mid income earners; from the young to the elderly.
• The company has demonstrated a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics and inventory system.
• Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion. It is the largest retail company in terms of size in Canada, the United-States and Mexico. It is also the 2nd biggest retail company in the United Kingdom.
• Wal-Mart is one of the largest employers in the world, with close to 1.5 million ‘associates’.
• Wal-Mart has built a very strong retail brand, with a reputation of good value for your money and convenience because of a wide range of different products and services in one store.
Weaknesses
• Wal-Mart experiences ups and downs in its international expansion efforts, neglecting to adapt to local markets and forcing the Wal-Mart culture on new markets and employees.
• Wal-Mart has been criticized for its record in employee relations and human capital conditions.
• The company is recognized as being a global leader in the retail space, but has a presence in relatively few countries worldwide.
• Because Wal-Mart operates with a vast array of products (food, clothing, electronics), it might not offer the same amount of choice as more focused competitors, such as Best Buy or Home Depot.
Opportunities
• With sales over the web accounting for only a small percentage of total sales, an opportunity exists to increase Wal-Mart’s web presence and push online sales in the future.
• New locations and store types offers Wal-Mart opportunities to exploit different market segments.
• Considering that Wal-Mart only operates in a handful of different countries, the company can take advantage of opportunities...