In recent times, retail stores have become a part of everyday life. They have been able to provide easy access to a wide variety of goods to customers, both online and in-store. Popular stores like Walmart, Amazon, and the like have overtaken the market space and have become formidable in the retail industry. Walmart as a brand needs no introduction. But the confronting question is: how has Walmart been able to maintain its hold on the industry from starting as a discount shop to operating a chain of hypermarkets? Let’s Know More about Walmart Research and Development Department.
The Beginning of Walmart
The historical timeline shows that the conception of Walmart can be traced back to 1950 when Sam Walton purchased Luther Harrison’s variety store in Bentonville, Arkansas. Before the establishment of Walmart, Sam Walton, the founder, had previously worked as a manager in one of Ben Franklin’s stores in Newport, Arkansas, and it was there he saw the potential of how grocery and retail stores would rise in coming years.
On July 2nd, 1962, Sam Walton opened his very first independent store in Rogers, Arkansas. It was his assistant, Bob Bogle, that came up with the adopted name of “Wal-Mart”, which springs from Sam’s family name—Walton—and “Mart” as a shortened name for market, and that has been the name of the establishment since then. The approach adopted by the store so that it would endear itself to the people and also make it a popular choice was to sell brand names at low prices. This became the model for all Walmart stores. In 1964, the second Walmart store was opened in Harrison, Arkansas.
Walmart’s Research and Development
Due to its innovative ideas that attract people, Walmart is currently considered to be the leading force in the retail industry. People were drawn to these innovative ideas. But, to have an understanding of how the establishment has been able to churn out incredible ideas, one must do a study underneath the generation of ideas, and that is the research and development strategies employed by the company’s research and development arm—the key arm responsible for developing the strategies fostering the company’s growth.
Generally, Walmart’s research and development strategies are hinged on enabling growth and improving business.
Walmart’s research and development strategy involves the constant innovation of products and services that help improve customers’ shopping experience. The organization aims to meet the expanding needs of consumers, customers’ experience, and tight competition from other retailers.
The strategy involved in understanding the market situation, as well as consumers’ shopping experience, is based on conducting thorough research, which factors in the activities carried out to bring about new ideas and the introduction of new products and services to promote. The key here is that Walmart’s value keeps her ahead of other competitors.
Walmart’s research and development have been successful because Walmart makes a strong financial commitment and it does not withhold resources needed to keep in touch with consumers’ needs and the market situation. And by this, she is still a significant force in the retail industry. Although Walmart has become renowned for not disclosing the actual cost it incurs on research deals, it does notify the public of some of the latest innovations that it employs to conduct its far-reaching research and development.
Some of Walmart’s investments in research and development include:
- Creating a global customer insights team: The responsibility of the team is to help enhance the company’s understanding of consumer behavior, which will help lead to discoveries that will give the company an advantage over other competitors in the industry.
Additionally, this team has helped by giving the company a higher advantage through the quick identification of global trends and how to respond to these trends with new marketing schemes or programs and new sales of products and services.
- Investments in technology.
- Investments in helping to get data of shoppers: This investment has aided the company in helping to understand the personal data of consumers. Inevitably, this translates to having the key to promoting company sales.
One of the ways the company was able to achieve this was through its partnership with a data firm, Nielsen, to help in processing data and its use by manufacturers, partners, and vendors. This partnership birthed “Walmart One Version of Truth.”
The most important aspects of Walmart’s investments in getting data from shoppers include changes in offers on groceries, integration of online stores while shopping in-store, and offering more bespoke promotions.
The research and development unit of Walmart appears to be the fulcrum of advantage. It is used by Walmart to execute cutting-edge deals and to lead the retail market industry.
Benefits of Walmart’s Research and Development
The growth of retail stores is tremendous and has become a source of concern to study how the likes of Walmart, a popular retail store, has been able to penetrate the market since its establishment and has still been able to maintain a momentum that makes it a force to reckon with in the retail industry. Without a doubt, the company’s devotion to its research and development strategies is paying off, and it has helped to keep them ahead of competitors in the retail industry.
Walmart’s research and development arm has been able to achieve key benefits, which include:
- Transforming customers’ in-store experience by upgrading the on-site stores. These upgrades have been recorded as helping Walmart’s associates serve customers better.
- Research and data analytics have enabled Walmart to offer customers a seamless shopping experience both online and in on-site stores.
- Improving its e-commerce platform to ensure the company remains on top of the competition with rival companies in the retail industry. For example, the company keeps working on its website design to improve the user experience on its online platforms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no doubt that success recorded by the research and development arm of the company and continuous investments will keep Walmart on top of the game in the retail industry. Walmart is only believed to have recorded these successes in research and development by relying on two anchor points in the advancement of its products and coverage—crowd management and social media shopping tools. Therefore, Walmart will remain a force to beat in the industry, and other rival companies must take a cue from this and go deeper in their employment of innovative strategies in research and development. Likewise, financial resources that can be used to dislodge Walmart from its current position.
