Wal-Mart Website Critique

People long for an American economy in a world that no longer exists, where Main Streets flourished with mom and pop shops, and a chocolate shake cost 50 cents. That is no longer what the world looks like. That economy is dead or dying, and this new world is less predictable. It moves two quickly sometimes for us to keep up, workers have less job security and Main Street is no longer the center of American commerce, but Wal-Mart does its part to help America. Saving people money to help them live better was the goal that Sam Walton envisioned when he opened the doors to the first Wal-Mart more than 40 years ago. Wal-Mart 's "good concept" involved huge stores offering customers a wide variety of name-brand goods at deep discounts that were part of an "everyday low prices" strategy. Today, there are 629 stores offering a pleasant and convenient shopping experience across the United States (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.). In 1996 Wal-Mart launch their website Walmart.com, which deemed as a failure for several reason such as lack of product selection and difficulty of use. In 2002 Wal-Mart spent $100 million on another website; offering order status and tracking, a help desk, a clear return policy and mechanisms, and information on special sales and liquidations. The Broad vision technology being used provides website personalization such as store locators, maps, log-in profiles, and a purchase history. The site offers an online agency that allows customers to make travel reservations, purchase airline tickets, etc. Integration of both online & offline business. eg. the site also offers a photo center (Wal-Mart Store, Inc.).

Walmart.com offers approximately 1,000.000 products that could be found in any of 24 departments such as gardening and electronics. It is growing its business through online sales by selling other companies products on its website. They rely on a large network of suppliers to provide the merchandise their customers want and

References: Boye, Matthew, 7/2011, Walmart’s Rocky Path from Bucks to Clicks, Retrieved April 17, 2012 from Business Week, www.businessweek.com/wal-mart FundingUniverse, 2004, Wal-Mart Store, Inc., Retrieved April 17, 2012 from Internal Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 63. St. James Press, www.fundingunivers.com Nguyen, Vinh, 8/31/2009, Wal-Mart Plays Catch Up, Helps Others Sell Products Online, Retrieved April 18, 2012, www.walmartplayscatchup.com