Walmart Case Study

Walmart Case Study

About Walmart
Walmart is the second-largest grocery and retail store in the world with a sum revenue of above 250 billion dollars annually. It employs approximately 2.3 million workers from various parts of the world. Three segments make up Walmart as a whole; Sam’s Club, Walmart U.S., and Walmart International. The United States segment is the biggest as regards net sales and profit contribution. Walmart is a diverse supplier that deals with a diverse range of products and services from household products, food, and groceries, clothing, holiday gift guide, drugs, books making it a suitable place to shop for all sorts of clients.
The company has experienced a steady and incredible growth over the past years, and this is attributed to the innovative and revolutionary strategy that emphasizes on significantly reducing the cost of items and a complicated management of the supply chain. The model of business has altered the systems employed in the retail and wholesale trade and the organization and implementation of transportation and distribution of commodities. Walmart uses modern technology to operate and it has employed technology experts and inventory labs to facilitate its operation.
The technology used at Walmart
More than twenty-four million people use the Walmart mobile application monthly, and it is highly ranked among other retail apps. Clients use the app to purchase goods while saving time. For instance, a client desires to replenish her prescription; she is simply required to take a snap of the label and check through the registry then receives the e-receipt at the comfort of her phone when the time to check comes (Stankevičiūtė, Grunda, & Bartkus, 2012).

Savings Catcher ensures that if any Walmart’s competitor sells the same product cheaper, the difference back rate will be reflected on her credit card. Pangaea is another technology that Walmart uses to gauge its assortment radically. The technology assists in the management of items in numbers that cannot be managed under traditional methods of pricing management. Walmart innovative labs developed OneOps technology that helps them to deploy enhancements of products faster. It functions by using multiple clouds to move applications so that app launch and maintenance is easy.
The company patented systems that would do away with the need for human employees. Shopping carts that do not need to be operated by people and mini robots to control the carts will cause many people to lose their jobs in the future as such work is reserved for human workers. This will negatively impact the economy as unemployment cases will go up. The automated devices use multiple sensors, a central computer, and a wireless network. The company needs to look into the issue of under-staffing stores since reportedly the high rates of violent crimes that have taken place across the stores in the US are due to understaffing of the stores. To enhance the client experience at the stores also, more staff is needed because without anyone to attend to clients, they can go away less satisfied.
Technology recommendations for Walmart
Walmart should adopt the Drone technology for a faster system of delivery. Amazon, Walmart’s competitor, is about to finalize their drone-based service (Amazon Prime Air) which will be a great contributor to them gaining a competitive advantage over Walmart. The technology is set to deliver packages for Amazon within thirty minutes after placing an order, to the doorstep of the client. Adopting the technology will help solve the transport and delivery problem that is facing Walmart. With this kind of technology, customer satisfaction will go higher because the system uses the GPS on mobile phones to locate clients and deliver packages wherever the client is within the shortest time possible. Drones are a futuristic solution that will substantially alter the current supply and delivery chain at Walmart (Custers, 2016).
Real-time tracking and on-demand delivery systems are successfully being implemented by many companies that deliver goods. Walmart should consider adopting the model too. There is real-time communication between service providers and clients, tracking, and receiving of notifications about packages or the whereabouts of their service providers. This technology enables clients to make plans for their days instead of waiting for their packages to be delivered to them with no particular knowledge of when it would arrive.
Digital lockers are used by online retailers to deliver packages to the required destinations safely (Khosrow-Pour, 2011). The technology addresses the issue of stolen parcels or customers not getting what they ordered. Usually, the tech solution applies to concerns about apartment delivery because most apartments have only part-time concierge services. For Walmart, the technology would make it easier for clients looking forward to an extremely busy schedule to avoid putting things on hold as they wait for their packages to arrive. Package Concierge are enhancing the technology by fixing the lockers in student dorms and apartments.
The company can also use secret places of hiding packages. In the United Kingdom, Royal Mail uses “Safe place,” an alternate system of delivery. For the users of Royal Mail, they can agree with their service providers to place their deliveries in areas they consider secure. In case the packages are delivered in one’s absence at the original address, instead of being sent back to the post office, the deliverer can be instructed to leave them in a particular place that is discreet or at a neighbor’s home. Again, this is a solution towards the delivery problems facing Walmart. It is client friendly and also secure. The company can deliver ordered packages and leave them in places without the customer having to sit in the house and waiting for their packages.
Informational Systems (IS)
They are a collection of human and technical resources used to provide the communication, distribution, computing and storage facilities required by some or every sector of a particular enterprise. A management information system is an example of IS that gives data about the management of the business (Hill & Jones, 2013). Identifying and seizing opportunities takes a degree of creativity, imagination, and vision. Information systems that assist in seizing opportunities are known as (SISs) strategic information systems. Operational information systems, on the other hand, are designed to process daily organizational transactions with integrity efficiently. They can track important activities and other elementary transactions occurring in the course of operations. Both strategic and operational information systems are applied in the same businesses, but they vary in functions and characteristics.
Mostly, operational information systems collect and track information, whereas SISs implement it. There is, however, a degree of overlap between the two systems of information, and it can be seen in many operations. In tracking the sales of a particular commodity, for instance, it is possible for managers to establish the time of the year where it would be beneficial to have more workers in a company and create a plan to hire, pay then dismiss temporary employees expeditiously. Operations managers are mostly the ones who work with operational information systems, while strategic systems are used by managers at senior levels being the ones concerned with the different ways of applying data to improve an enterprise.
How the informational systems are used at Walmart
The use of information systems has been a great contributor to the growth of Walmart as a company, and it is operated from a centralized location. At Walmart, the methods are used to maximize the effectiveness of the business strategy which is to cut on costs while making a profit. The grand technology infrastructure makes it possible for the company to make an accurate prediction of demands on goods (Hill & Jones, 2013). With well-established systems, it can forecast the levels of inventory, create transportation routes that are highly efficient and manage response logistics of their services and client relationships. The system at Walmart ensures that suppliers, distribution centers, and stores frequently and informally cooperate in enhancing the business. With that, the information systems can meet Walmart’s corporate needs.
Conclusion
Walmart is a global company that generates billions of profits on a vast market space, but it has some challenges. The case study reveals the technologically-based problems which basically concern delivering products, client experience, inventory concerns, and high crime rates. The company should not implement their strategy to lay off employees, but rather find ways to make technology advancements that favor employees. The company is devoted to gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors and a peek into the future reveals a more financially stable and client friendly company (Deimler, & Boston Consulting Group, 2013). The company will be the first to make a seamless experience in shopping possible at scale. With the strategies at hand, no matter how one chooses to buy items, shopping will be done easy and fast. The company is not just taking an easy slide into a more secure future, but it is focusing on its powers and improving on its weaknesses for a desired fulfillment of goals.References
Custers, B. (2016). The future of drone use: Opportunities and threats from ethical and legal perspectives. The Hague: Asser Press.
Deimler, M. S., & Boston Consulting Group. (2013). Own the future: 50 ways to win from the Boston Consulting Group. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hill, C. W. L., & Jones, G. R. (2013). Strategic management theory. Mason, OH; Australia; Brazil; Japan; Korea; Mexico; Singapore; Spain; United Kingdom; United States: South-Western, Cengage Learning.
Khosrow-Pour, M. (2011). Cases on electronic commerce technologies and applications. Norwood, Mass: Books24x7.com.
Stankevičiūtė, E., Grunda, R., & Bartkus, E. V. (2012). Pursuing a cost leadership strategy and business sustainability objectives: Walmart case study. Economics and Management, 17 (3), 1200-1206.