Walmart's E-Commerce Expansion: Strategies and Recommendations

1 Expanding Walmart into E-Commerce Sevara Djabborova New York School Of Career & Applied Studies Sabra Brock GBKN 101 10/09/2023

2 Expanding Walmart into E-Commerce Background/Situation Analysis: Walmart is a globally recognized brick-and-mortar retail giant that has been in operation for several decades. With the rise of e-commerce and the growing preference for online shopping, Walmart is considering expanding its operations into the e-commerce space (Yuan et al,. (2021, September). This expansion decision requires a careful analysis of various factors and strategic considerations. Challenges and Key Factors: Limited Online Presence: While Walmart has an online presence, it faces stiff competition from established e-commerce players like Amazon. Competitor Landscape: The e-commerce industry is dominated by established platforms, making it challenging for Walmart to carve out a significant market share. Resource Allocation: Walmart needs to decide how much of its substantial resources (financial, human, and time) to allocate to this e-commerce expansion. Customer Base: The company has a massive loyal customer base from its physical stores, but it needs to adapt its strategies to attract and retain online customers. Technology and Infrastructure: Investment in technology and logistics infrastructure is essential to support e-commerce operations efficiently. Marketing and Promotion: Developing effective online marketing strategies and digital advertising campaigns is crucial to compete in the e-commerce space. Discussion of Alternatives:

3 Gradual Expansion: Walmart can take a gradual approach by enhancing its existing e- commerce platform, adding more products, and improving user experience. This approach allows for controlled growth but may not capture the full potential of the online market quickly. Strategic Partnership or Acquisition: Walmart can explore strategic partnerships with or acquisitions of existing e-commerce platforms to gain quick entry into the market. This option offers a shortcut to online market entry but comes with integration challenges and potential loss of brand identity. Full-Fledged E-Commerce Development: The company can invest heavily in building its e-commerce platform from scratch or through custom development. This option offers full control but requires substantial resources and time. Recommendations: The recommended approach for Walmart is a combination of a gradual expansion and strategic partnerships or acquisitions with reputable e-commerce platforms. Enhance Existing E-commerce Platform: Allocate resources to improve the existing e- commerce platform, expand product offerings, and enhance user experience. Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions: Simultaneously, explore strategic partnerships or acquisitions with established e-commerce platforms to gain immediate access to a broader customer base and leverage their technology and infrastructure ( Turner,. 2022) . Action Plan: Enhance E-commerce Platform: Invest in upgrading the existing e-commerce platform, optimizing logistics, and implementing customer-focused improvements. Strategic Partnerships/Acquisitions: Identify potential partners or acquisition targets and initiate discussions to explore collaboration opportunities.

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4 Marketing Strategy: Develop a comprehensive online marketing strategy, including social media, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising, to promote the online store. Training: Train existing staff or hire e-commerce specialists to manage online operations effectively. Contingency Plan : If the gradual expansion and strategic partnerships/acquisitions approach faces unexpected challenges or fails to gain traction, Walmart should be prepared to pivot toward a more aggressive e-commerce development strategy to capture the online market share. Answers to Case Questions: 1. What are the key challenges in expanding into e-commerce?  Limited online presence  Strong competition  Resource allocation  Adapting to online customer behavior  Technology and infrastructure  Marketing and promotion 2. What are the recommended strategies?  Enhance the existing e-commerce platform  Explore strategic partnerships or acquisitions with established e-commerce platforms 3. What is the contingency plan?  Pivot to a more aggressive e-commerce development strategy if initial efforts do not succeed.

5 References Turner, A. (2022). Walmart vs Amazon: How Walmart can Compete with Amazon in the Age of E-Commerce. Yuan, Y., Song, D., & Huang, Y. (2021, September). The Limitations of Traditional Retail Enterprises’ Self-built Logistics System——A Case Study of Walmart. In 2021 International Conference on Financial Management and Economic Transition (FMET 2021) (pp. 487-494). Atlantis Press.

Expanding Walmart into E-Commerce

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