what are wal-mart's competitive advantages?

Answer 1

In my opinion is would be buying power and the funds to research what the public wants. The more you buy the better (lower) the price is which results in better overall costs. Because of their size they have unlimited resources to buy direct, duplicate and negotiate the best prices.

Answer 2

Wal-Mart primarily has the competitive advantage known as "cost advantage", which means they do the same things for less. One of the main ways that they do this is through a highly advanced purchasing and inventory system that automatically purchases items as they start to run out.
They also get better prices because they buy so much. They buy in bulk, and I mean REAL bulk. They buy so much that they end up practically dictating prices to their suppliers.
Some people even go as far as to say that they have done things that are illegal.

To a lesser extent, they have a differentiation benefit, insofar as some people think that they always have the best quality (although not so many people really believe this in my experience).

Answer 3

Walmart Competitive Advantages

Answer 4

Variety of goods. Have you ever been in a situation and somebody asks "where can I get X" and you say "Walmart probably has it" I think that is priceless. Besides the buying in Bulk, being everywhere and the advertising. Yes, I critize their Biz practices but at the end. I end up there. Come home from work, Gotta get my oil changed, get some office and school supplies and go grocery shopping and its 7PM Where are you going to go????
Walmart was the richest in the US recently in 2006 has been surpassed by3 Major Oil Companies, Go figure!! Who is worse??

Answer 5

Marketing Power which enthusiasing to leads to buy the things. They give a offer to a employee (Of course 75% are employees) and gives offers to other companies for some (98% family are engaged with works) so when these people goes for shopping they put a music to buy the things.

Hey walmart now richest industry in the world

Answer 6

The main advantage is their ability to keep costs low and quality high by buying in volume.

Also ... providing a wide variety of products under a single roof; good location; well designed stores and parking lots; good training; and the abilty to advertise broadly.

Answer 7

1. They have everything
2. It's almost always cheaper than you can get it elsewhere.
3. There's one just down the road.

They also have a number of "social" pluses in that they give huge amounts of cash to local charities, and they provide low-skilled jobs for more people than any other employer on the PLANET. (It's a fact, look it up)

The only bad thing about WalMart is their presence puts small, less-than-nimble, entrenched mom-and-pop operations out of business everywhere they go...

Answer 8

Walmart buys in bulk for all their stores at once so they in turn are able to obtain massive discounts for quantity from their suppliers. Also they own factories wich produce some of their products as well as their own diamond mines in Africa (why their diamonds are so cheeply priced)

They can then be as competative as they like with their products, as they cost Walmart less to cary than other stores. (This is why Superman (1977) DVD is over $9 at Target, and $5.50 at Walmart)

I hope this helps.

Answer 9

They are HUGE, so they buy in mass so that they can sell for a cheaper price than competitors. The more they buy from a manufacturer, the less they pay for each item. Also, they are known for paying slave wages and skimping on benefits for their employees, so they save money there. Also, they have contracts with McDonalds and Disney and other major money makers.

Answer 10

Owing to the size of the store, they can offer one-stop shopping.

Because of their clout in the marketplace, they can afford to low-ball the competition, driving them out of business and creating a kind of company town, where you have to shop there or drive some distance to go elsewhere.

This traps the poor and the not-as-mobile.

Also, they have the ability to deal directly with governments to manufacture some of their goods. (China comes to mind)