As we all know, as a battleground for businesses, the fierce competition in the retail market will inevitably lead to the continuous innovation of retail formats. At this epoch-making moment, sam walton pointed out that retailers must fully understand the following trends in the development of contemporary retail formats when formulating competitive strategies:
(1) New retail formats emerge in an endless stream.
With the continuous development of the world economy and the rapid development of modern science and technology, the social production mode and people's lifestyle have changed greatly, and the consumer demand has been further diversified and personalized. Therefore, it is required that the retail model must be constantly innovated to adapt to the changes of the times. New retail businesses, such as manufacturers' stores, ultra-cheap shopping centers, various direct sales centers, telephone ordering, online service systems, etc. , is threatening the existing retail form.
(b) Shortening the retail life cycle
Like products, every retail format also has a market life cycle, that is, every retail model will go through the process of introduction, growth, maturity, decline and withdrawal in the market. Under contemporary conditions, traditional retail formats, such as general stores and department stores, are accelerating their decline, while the life cycle of emerging formats is getting shorter and shorter. Department stores came out in the middle of last century, and it took about 80 years from appearance to maturity. Later, mail-order stores also experienced 50 years. However, after the emergence of warehouse stores in the 1970s, it took only 10 years to reach maturity.
Retail technology is becoming more and more important.
At the same time, sales technology is becoming more and more important as a means of competition. Powerful retailers are using computer technology to improve their market forecasting level and control storage costs; Apply electronic technology to order from suppliers, transmit information between stores, and even sell goods to customers in stores. They use electronic detection systems, electronic cash transfer equipment, closed-circuit televisions in stores and better commodity processing systems to provide better services to customers.
(d) Competition among various formats is becoming increasingly fierce.
With the coexistence of various formats in the retail market, the competition among formats is becoming more and more fierce, and there is all-round competition among discount stores, display stores, department stores, in-store retail and department stores. These competitions make department stores often use cheap auctions against discount stores, while discount stores respond to the competition by improving decoration and adding new product lines and services. Therefore, the boundary between two or more formats becomes increasingly blurred. This situation further intensifies the retail competition.
(e) Action is developing towards polarization.
Incentive competition among retail formats forces retailers to develop in the direction of further scale or specialization. At one end, it is a retail giant, which uses the advantages of resources to develop large-scale and super-large comprehensive shopping malls; At the other end, we maintain a certain scale and focus on more specialized product line management, even a product project management.
(VI) Further develop the vertical marketing system.
The vertical channel marketing system controlled or jointly organized by large companies (manufacturers or middlemen) meets the needs of fierce competition, further strengthens the specialization of management and planning, and further expands the management marketing channels. Some independent small shops are squeezed out, making it more and more difficult to gain a foothold in the retail market.
(VII) Rapid growth in store-free sales.
Now, the electronic age has shown broad prospects for the retail industry without shops and virtual stores, and consumers are increasingly interested in receiving sales services through television, computers and telephones.
(viii) Globalization trends in the retail sector
Retailers with unique scale and excellent brand positioning, especially mature retailers in the west, are actively entering other countries to seek new growth opportunities. On the other hand, economically developed countries are cooperating with each other, from using each other's sales network to promoting products and exchanging new computerized management technologies to jointly purchasing, producing and developing products to obtain economies of scale. International cooperation in retail industry has become a new development trend.
Correct market forecast can help enterprises to accelerate their development, and sam walton's forecast on the change and development trend of retail format will certainly promote the continuous development and perfection of retail industry. There is no doubt that his theory will guide practical business activities more effectively.
Therefore, in its development process, Wal-Mart resolutely implemented the principle of focusing on the retail industry. As early as when Wal-Mart made some achievements, many investors suggested that it develop in a diversified direction, and gradually control industrial production with a strong retail system to reduce business risks. However, all these suggestions were firmly opposed by sam walton.
Sam walton knows exactly how to expand his career, although his colleagues think it is impossible. 1975 roebuck, CEO of Sears, said in the class of Kellogg Business School of Northwest University, "The retail industry in the United States is a mature zero-growth industry, which is why we diversified into financial services." But at the same time, sam walton has opened many new stores and maintained a higher return on assets than the industry average. Wal-Mart soon opened the gap with Sears.
In fact, with Wal-Mart's enterprise strength, it is entirely possible to develop diversified enterprise development models and create unparalleled group enterprises. However, Walton was not carried away by Wal-Mart's achievements, but continued to base himself on the retail industry and open up new business positions in this vast market. This is the main reason why Wal-Mart will become the number one in the world in the future.