The multinational retail chain is getting famous for the changes that it has been making lately; the recent one being its struggle with sales. In order to compensate, the company has decided to downsize 450 of their employees.
The retail chain claims that since the costumers are changing, everything must change with them. In order for this to happen, the company states it has to be flexible to meet the demands of their beloved customers.
Wal-Mart Wholesale Corporation has been downsizing many employees since the past week, a meeting was held on Friday, October 2, where the board of directors was strictly asked to be present and not to make any trips so that tough decisions could be made.
The 54-years-old executive Foran decided to go on random visits to the stores himself to check the problems but it is hard to check every store because there are 4,600 stores in America. He has visited 150 stores in the past years. He studied everything to improve the condition, from where the carts are placed to how customers are reacting to things around the mart.
This random checking also helped to keep senior managers and others who are in charge in line because any top executive can drop by any time unannounced. This strategy proved to be quite well for huge organization in the States.
Walmart company stock price has lost more than one fourth of its value in 2015. The company has been in need of changes since the past years. Even the board admits the retail chain went down the hill. There were complaints registered by the customers about the stores being unclean, the shelves not stocked and the prices overall.
Sam Walton’s idea for Wal-Mart initially was the low prices and the discounts, but sadly, the company left this idea behind. The costs of the product increased and standards got lower instead. Now, the board is trying to go back to Walton’s legacy.
Amazon is Wal-Mart online biggest competitor and threat. They are investing in e-commerce to change this condition. However, there main goal in the past few year has been the cleanliness of stores and reducing the waiting line, which has been achieved. It has made its customers the top priority for now.
The company’s plan is to increase wages of its employees to get better output and productivity, which will contribute to better customer service they are spending $1 billion on training and labor. They are planning on changing the structure of the management and reorganizing everything. It currently has 1.3 million employees amidst so many expenditures that it is trimming down jobs at the main headquarters in Arkansas.
The outcome of such changes is gradual so far and not yet visible. Walmart stock closed at $65.84 on October 5.
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