WalMart.com easy access to more Wal-Mart

DSN Retailing Today, May 23, 2005 by John Fleming

I talk to a lot of people in my travels. Most of them think the vast selection of products that Wal-Mart stores carry is about as large a selection as you can find. So the first thing I tell them about Walmart.com is, "Imagine even more." The response I usually get is one of genuine surprise: Most people are amazed when they hear Walmart.com carries over a million items. In essence, Walmart.com is "more Wal-Mart"--more products, more helpful product and buying information, and more ways to help Wal-Mart customers shop their favorite store.

I love it when I go to Wal-Mart stores and I hear associates ask customers, "Have you checked Walmart.com?" for an item that the store either doesn't carry or might be out of stock on at the moment. That tells me we're offering an assortment that complements what the stores are carrying. We're adding value to the stores and giving our customers a heightened shopping experience. And it's easy. It's easy access to more Wal-Mart.

It's also easy access to the latest trends. In fact, "trend forward" is a term we hear a lot around the offices at Walmart.com. Because of the nature of the Internet--an increased ability to respond to rapid shifts in trends--our value to Wal-Mart store customers has taken on a new dimension. Not only are we now a source of great products, but a window to new trends for our customers and for Wal-Mart stores.

It also enables us to carry a broader assortment of products, which is something our suppliers appreciate. Because we're not limited by the constraints of square footage, we're able to provide an assortment that's above and beyond what can physically fit into a Wal-Mart store.

For the stores that, out of necessity or other business considerations, carry a more restricted selection, Walmart.com can bridge the needs of these customers by offering an expanded assortment at every-day-low prices customers have come to expect from Wal-Mart.

What does this mean for suppliers? If you're already working with Wal-Mart, it can mean sales through Walmart.com of products in your catalog or offerings that aren't applicable for the stores. For example, higher-end products as well as products that are on the brink of breaking through, but have yet to be proven in the market--the "trend-forward" items that are just ahead of the mass-market curve. At Walmart.com, we can take those products, test demand, and then bring them to the attention of our appropriate counterparts in Wal-Mart stores.

If you're not already a Wal-Mart supplier, then working with us at Walmart.com is a great entry into selling to the Wal-Mart customer.

In either case, the experience of doing business with Walmart.com is a mirror image of the way our counterparts in WalMart stores work with suppliers. More specifically, we're always looking for ways to offer suppliers' products to our customers at every-day-low prices, so we can provide more of their product every day.

Whatever a supplier's status with Wal-Mart stores or Walmart.com, our suppliers are our best partners when it comes to the content on our site. By providing robust information about their items, suppliers can make or break a product description. Our customers often print out the product description from ourWeb site and bring it with them to the store, so the accuracy and completeness of this information is crucial for customers--both online and off--in deciding what items to purchase.

When Wal-Mart customers shop online, that information is especially crucial, given the virtual nature of our business. Recent research has shown that a retailer's Web presence plays a key role in providing information to its customers for in-store purchases. We look to support our customers in this way, through our reader-friendly buying guides, refining our search and navigation technologies, and clear and compelling item descriptions.

In the future Wal-Mart will continue integrating the best of the physical stores with the Web site. We've already successfully melded this experience with the rollout of our one-hour photo service in which customers order photos online and pick up prints within an hour at their local Wal-Mart store. The response has been phenomenal, and I think it's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the value Walmart.com represents to customers and suppliers. Likewise, our Wal-Mart music-downloads business is extremely popular and customers are taking advantage of our online pharmacy and gift registry services. Again, our focus is easy access to more Wal-Mart.

On the horizon is enabling customers to have items purchased online at Walmart.com and shipped to their local Wal-Mart store, in addition to many other integrated, multi-channel services. In this way, we can bridge the gap between the product assortment of online shopping and the convenience of in-store purchases. We look forward to working together to build on the success of Wal-Mart stores.