Wal-Mart is a retailer that one can say it possesses the brick-and-mortar space, making it
easily accessible to most people in the United States who are 15 minutes away from the closest
Wal-Mart store. However, despite all this success, Wal-Mart has failed to cross the digital divide
and is continuously losing buyers to significant e-commerce players such as Amazon. Therefore,
to gain access to a whole new group of customers, Wal-Mart was inspired to acquire Jet. Another
reason for acquiring Jet is Wal-Mart will be enabled by Jet to gain market share online while also
holding the upper hand for in-store sales instead of reinventing its entire new business model.
Wal-Mart’s increase in market share is coming to Amazon's market share. Despite food
being the main item, Wal-Mart is selling it online. It adds more items on its website by
partnering with such brands as Lord & Taylor that produces high-end dresses, Fanatics, a
company that produces sports apparel. It has attained online first brands such as Moosejaw. As a
result, Wal-Mart is coming after the Amazon market by adding non-grocery items on its website.
Omni-channel retail (or Omnichannel commerce) is a multi-channel sales strategy that
focuses on delivering a seamless consumer experience, whether the customer purchases online
from a mobile device, desktop, or brick-and-mortar store. Therefore, an Omni-channel that Wal-
Mart can employ is to enable customers to physically pick up their items at a designated store
after shopping and placing the order either on a computer, a Smartphone app, or by placing a
call.
Surname 2
One of the main competitive advantages Wal-Mart has vis-a-vis Amazon is the readily
available store network. In comparison to Amazon, which has to create such facilities from
scratch, the store network has provided Wal-Mart an edge with services such as supermarket
delivery, which it can introduce by simply adding kiosks to store parking lots. Wal-Mart's stores
will further support the business's e-commerce distribution and support services such as online
buying/pick-up in store.
I agree with the first post. Wal-Mart acquired Jet.com to "close a gap" between them and
Amazon in online shopping revenue. Wal-Mart had a challenge in trying to penetrate the e-
commerce business. As a result, Wal-Mart acquired Jet, which helped it penetrate the e-
commerce platform without completely changing its digital platform. Also, with the acquisition,
Wal-Mart was able to tap into the new market of Millenials and, at the same time, keep their
former customers serviced through their retail stores across the country.
I cannot entirely agree with the second post that according to the video, Wal-Mart's
increase in market share is not coming at Amazon expense. The main items Wal-Mart sells on its
online platform are groceries, while Amazon specializes in general merchandise such as apparel
and books. However, recently, Wal-Mart has also expanded and started selling general
merchandise, for example, apparel from such brands as Lord & Taylor, thus making a move on
Amazon's market share.
I agree with the third post. A few Omni-channels efforts that Wal-Mart can employ
would be curbside pick-up at the store location and their grocery department. Curbside pick-up
will allow the customers to choose to pick their order at the store or let the order be shipped at
their place of residence or work.
Surname 3
I agree with the fourth post. The most significant competitive advantage that Wal-Mart
has over Amazon is that its customers can have an in-store shopping experience due to the
presence of readily available retail spaces. Wal-Mart is known as the brick and mortar space
owner worldwide due to the considerable number of stores. On the other hand, Amazon does not
have a retail space like Wal-Mart. Therefore, Amazon will spend a lot of money to have the
same number of retail stations to allow its shoppers to have an in-store shopping experience.