Case Study: Walmart - Brick&Mortar to E-Commerce
Walmart was established in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to one of the largest companies in the world, opening thousands of stores across the United States and other countries. Through innovation, they strive to bring a seamless experience to let customers shop anytime and anywhere online, mobile devices and in stores. Overall, Walmart operates over 11,000 retail unites under 71 banners in 27 different countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. A total of 2.2 million associates worldwide work for Walmart. Over the recent years however, other companies like Amazon have come into play, forcing Walmart to make the switch to having a strong E-business model. (Walmart, 2014)
Walmart still stands tall in terms of overall revenue compared to the online giant Amazon, bringing in $473 billion total revenue compared to Amazon’s mere $60.3 billion. This doesn’t mean that Walmart is not concerned however with the amount and quality of their online sales, being outsold by Amazon online seven to one last year. This is a big deal because E-commerce in the U.S. grew about six times the rate of the normal rate over the previous year. (Davidson, 2014)
It was in the summer of 2011 when Jeremy King was hired as the CTO of Walmart.com by none other than Mike Duke, the CEO of Walmart. All of this came about after a meeting between King and Duke occurred, where Duke swore that the digital was now a priority for Walmart. Duke had restructured the company, placing E-Commerce on the same level with Walmart’s other, much larger divisions. Duke was looking for people who could help revive the company’s sites and services. This included purchasing a 65 person social media firm called Kosmix, which had experience in search and analytics. Walmart themselves even renamed their division in Silicon Valley “Walmart Labs”, which is now housed in a boxy office tower in San Bruno, California. In just over a year, it helped Walmart.com revamp its search engine
Walmart still stands tall in terms of overall revenue compared to the online giant Amazon, bringing in $473 billion total revenue compared to Amazon’s mere $60.3 billion. This doesn’t mean that Walmart is not concerned however with the amount and quality of their online sales, being outsold by Amazon online seven to one last year. This is a big deal because E-commerce in the U.S. grew about six times the rate of the normal rate over the previous year. (Davidson, 2014)
It was in the summer of 2011 when Jeremy King was hired as the CTO of Walmart.com by none other than Mike Duke, the CEO of Walmart. All of this came about after a meeting between King and Duke occurred, where Duke swore that the digital was now a priority for Walmart. Duke had restructured the company, placing E-Commerce on the same level with Walmart’s other, much larger divisions. Duke was looking for people who could help revive the company’s sites and services. This included purchasing a 65 person social media firm called Kosmix, which had experience in search and analytics. Walmart themselves even renamed their division in Silicon Valley “Walmart Labs”, which is now housed in a boxy office tower in San Bruno, California. In just over a year, it helped Walmart.com revamp its search engine
References: Davidson, J. (2014, August 4). 3 Ways Walmart Is Trying to Out-Amazon Amazon. Retrieved from Time: http://time.com/money/3079546/walmart-out-amazon-amazonfresh/ Manjoo, F. (2014). WALMART 'S EVOLUTION FROM BIG BOX GIANT TO E-COMMERCE INNOVATOR. Retrieved from Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/3002948/walmarts-evolution-big-box-giant-e-commerce-innovator Neff, J. (2014, November 14). Walmart Brings Bricks and Mortar to Battle with Amazon. Retrieved from Advertising Age: http://adage.com/article/digital/walmart-brings-bricks-mortar-battle-amazon/230986/ Walmart. (2014). Our Story. Retrieved from Walmart: http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/