Wal-Mart Furniture Stores Phase Iv

Wal-Mart Furniture Stores Phase IV

Overview of Organization

Sam Walton's vision of successful retailing was to give customers what they wanted and it was Sam's view that customers wanted everything: variety and quality at the lowest possible price, along with "friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience" (The Wal-Mart Story, n.d.). Sam indeed understood what customers wanted, and gave it to them. What began as a "different type of general store" in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 has become the largest chain of discount retail stores in the world today.

Wal-Mart has stores positioned in 15 countries, number 6,500, and employs 1.8 million sales associates. Considered by FORTUNE magazine to be the most admired among retailers, Wal-Mart generated astounding global revenue of $312.4 billion at fiscal yearend, 2006 (The Wal-Mart Story, n.d.).

Wal-Mart continues to operate on the founding premise that customer service has value, and that value is the lowest possible price, which embodies Wal-Mart's price rollback mantra and bouncing smiley face.

Wal-Mart realizes the importance of marketing and understands the need to focus on its target market without excluding other markets. To be successful Wal-Mart's marketing should be direct and easily understood by the consumers. "Central to any successful marketing strategy is an understanding of your customers and their needs. The ability to satisfy your customers' needs better than your competitors are able to can help you build customer loyalty and increase sales" (Business Link, 2005).

Wal-Mart understands the need to have its new furniture product easily recognized and to be the product that consumers choose. Wal-Mart's new furniture stores will be unique in the market not only in sales, but also in service. Through good marketing, the consumer is aware of the differences between Wal-Mart furniture store products and those of the competition, not to mention the unbelievable service Wal-Mart provides.

Name and Mission Statement

The name of the new organization under development by Wal-Mart is "Wal-Mart Furniture Stores." Wal-Mart's mission statement for the furniture stores is:

At Wal-Mart Furniture Stores, we are guided by our three founding basic beliefs, and these include Respect for the Individual, Service to Our Customers, and Strive for Excellence.

We are a global retailer committed to saving people money so they can live better and serving communities around the world. We earn the trust of our customers every day by providing a broad assortment of quality furniture and services at everyday low prices while fostering a culture that rewards and embraces mutual respect, integrity and diversity (Wal-Mart.com, 2007).

Geographic Locations

The Geographic location of Wal-Mart Furniture Stores will be introduced first in six select cities in order to track the success of the store before going nationwide and possibly global. The first cities that the Wal-Mart Furniture Stores will open in will be first the city where the first Wal-Mart Store was opened, which is Rogers, Arkansas. The other select cities that the store will open in next will be Provo, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Tampa, Florida; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These cities were chosen because of sales of these areas at Wal-Mart's, Sam's Clubs, and Supercenters in those areas.

Product Mix

The Product mix for Wal-Mart Furniture Stores will be a combination of all types of furniture products from Sofa's, loveseats, chairs, and beds to Dining room tables, chairs, and china cabinets. The departments in the stores will be the living area department, the kitchen area, the bedroom area, there will be a separate children's room area, and finally there will be an office and entertainment area. This product mix will contain all the items necessary to furnish a home. The current Wal-Mart stores which offer limited furniture in the stores such as futons, desks, shelves, entertainment centers, and storage items, and require self-assembly at home. The new store will be a full service furniture store offering any type of furniture needed and offering full service delivery and assembling at your home. Wal-Mart hopes to offer the delivery and assembly free of charge to its customers on a limited basis to see if providing such a service will give Wal-Mart an edge over its competitors who currently charge for delivery and assembly. Free delivery and assembly is being offered for a limited time in order to see if this will be profitable, or if it will become a burden, which is too expensive. If that is the case, Wal-Mart Furniture Stores may start charging for delivery of the items.

New Product Description

The new product description for Wal-Mart essentially covers all types of household furniture as described in the product mix above. The description of the product and services is: sofas, loveseats, chairs, end tables, coffee tables, night stands, lamps, chandeliers, ceiling fans, dressers, armoires, portable fire places, portable bars, bar stools, vanities, dining room tables and chairs, bedroom sets, mattresses, box springs, children's furniture, home office furniture, entertainment items such as computers, televisions, home theatre's, and stereos. The services that will be provided in the beginning at the furniture stores will be free home delivery and assembly. The permanent services will be in-store financing, layaway, Wal-Mart Furniture exclusive credit cards, free 12 month warranties on all products, extended 5 year warranties offered for an extra fee, and lifetime warranties on mattresses and box springs. Wal-Mart hopes to produce its own line of furniture. In the mean time, Wal-Mart intends to sell all quality made products that can be found in other stores.

Wal-Mart intends to warehouse a large quantity of product in the hopes of reducing the need to backorder items. Wal-Mart is collaborating with a variety of wholesale furniture dealers in order to give the best price to the customer. By ordering, the items in bulk Wal-Mart will be able to offer discounted pricing on the items in its furniture stores just like it does in its regular stores. This will give them a leg up on the competition by offering the same quality products at lower prices, in addition to its initial grand opening services of offering free delivery and assembly.

SWOTT Analysis

A SWOTT analysis is the process of analyzing a marketing plan for its Strengths,