Wal-Mart is the largest retail chain in the world with over 10,000 stores. In them, buyers can purchase both food and household goods. Wal-Mart is the absolute leader in retail in America. And all this thanks to the legendary Sam Walton, the creator of the Wal-Mart chain. What he did in business is not for everyone. He himself believes that the secret of his success is in his endless optimism, goodwill towards everyone around him (whether friends or enemies), and, of course, striving for perfection. Everyone who knew Sam speaks of him as "a man with a constant kind smile on his face." How did he manage to turn one store into a huge global network?

Sam's birth and childhood

Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Oklahoma. His parents worked on a farm, and the family did not have a consistently high income, however, they did not live in poverty either. In those years, small provincial towns in America were very similar to each other: in the center there was a city hall, a medical clinic, a bank, a school, a post office and other institutions, and around them there were small streets with residential buildings. When Sam was still a boy, his family moved to Missouri, in a city that looked almost exactly the same as their home. At the new place, Sam began to play sports at the local stadium and go to the school of public speaking.

Like many great businessmen today, Sam Walton started earning money on his own very early - at the age of seven he carried the morning press home. Sports played a big role in his life. Thanks to them, Sam learned to work in a team and interact effectively with other players. In the future, it was this skill that more than once helped him in business.
After graduating from the University of Missouri, Sam began working in the retail industry, changing jobs frequently. In one of the companies, he met his future wife, whom he soon married. It's time to serve in the army. Due to a heart disease found in Sam, he was forbidden to serve fully, however, he was sent to a military unit as a quartermaster (the person responsible for supplying the troops).

Opening of the first store

After returning to civilian life, Sam convened a family council, at which he planned to resolve the issue of his future activities. His wife's father was a fairly wealthy man, and Sam, deciding to take advantage of such a gift of fate, asked him for a tidy sum to start his own business. Father-in-law did not refuse, and Sam got money to buy a franchise of the Ben Franklin retail chain. A small shop was opened in downtown Newport, which quickly became popular with the locals. Sam Walton took his first business more than seriously. He personally greeted each visitor of the store at the entrance and showed maximum attention to each. Sam often told customers that the store did not belong to him personally, but to his entire family. And he often told visitors about his son Robson, whom he loved very much.

Very quickly, Walton's store became the most successful store in the entire Ben Franklin chain. When it came time to renew the franchise contract, the owner of the network refused to do so. It is understandable: the owner wanted to manage the store with such excellent sales figures himself.

Sam Walton moves to Bentonville with his wife and children. At that time, Sam no longer doubted for a second that trading was his calling, and this was the only thing he would do all his life. He opens the Five & Ten Cents store, whose name already makes it clear at what price goods are sold there. The store now houses the Wal-Mart Museum, where anyone can look at the oldest items ever sold online. Among them there is an exhibit with a rather interesting history. This is the most common thermometer that the customer returned to the store with the words "this watch shows the wrong time."
Sam continued to open stores throughout Arkansas, gaining experience and developing his own principles in the trade. When he decided to open his first supermarket, he was already a professional.

Sam Walton's goal was to create stores that would harmoniously combine the pleasant atmosphere of small family shops and the scale of large supermarkets. In search of new ideas, Walton visited almost every store he came across and studied how they work.

The Beginning of Wal-Mart History

The history of Wal-Mart would not have begun if Walton had not come up with the idea of ​​​​opening a large supermarket in a small city on the outskirts. The fact is that large stores were available only in large cities. But in them the cost of land and labor was very high for Walton. Small towns were not even considered by major market players as a platform for business. Contrary to the doubts of his acquaintances, Walton decided to try.

So almost on the outskirts of the city of Rogers, a supermarket called "Waltons Five And Dime" was opened. The locals liked this supermarket because it was as big as the metropolitan supermarkets, but the prices were much lower and there was a warm, almost family atmosphere. This principle is still present in the Wal-Mart chain: all stores open on the outskirts of cities, and not in their centers.

The first open stores of the Waltons Five And Dime chain provided an opportunity to purchase goods not just at low prices, but at surprisingly low prices. At first, visitors were wary of this, but then they realized that the quality of the goods was in no way inferior to similar goods in other stores.

Why was the chain renamed from "Waltons Five And Dime" to Wal-Mart? The fact is that the title "Waltons Five And Dime" was too long. At first, Walton wanted to rename his chain simply "Waltons", but it turned out that the cost of each letter to erect a sign was quite high. Sam decided to save money and just call the shops "Wal". The prefix Mart (which means "market") appeared a little later. During the first five years after the opening of the first chain store, 24 more were opened.

Sam Walton always communicated with his subordinates and asked them for advice on how to improve the operation of stores. For example, the idea of ​​allowing customers to bring carts with purchases directly to the car was presented to Walton by the loader of one of the stores, the idea of ​​free parking for visitors was submitted by one of the clerks. Walton was not shy about driving a conventional pickup truck and dressing in cheap clothes. And once he even danced the dance of the Hawaiian peoples, dressed in a Hawaiian leaf skirt, right in the middle of a busy street, as he lost a bet to his friend.

Accusations from other entrepreneurs

Due to the success of Wal-Mart, many small shops began to die out. It's just that shoppers liked to shop in a large supermarket with low prices, while receiving a warm welcome and personal attention from the staff. Small stores began to fail, and their owners blamed Sam Walton for this, who continuously multiplied his supermarkets throughout America. Accusations also rained down in violation of American traditions, which involved the placement of all large establishments and shops in city centers.

Such accusations Walton considered unfair, and in the early 1990s he wrote a book in which he told the whole story of Wal-Mart from the very beginning. So people learned that Sam didn’t even have in mind to ruin someone, he just did what he liked. He built shops on the outskirts not because he wanted to turn the traditions of America upside down, but because it was cheaper to rent land there.

In the same book, Walton spoke about his charitable work, about which he had previously preferred to remain silent. Walton was born and raised in a small provincial town and knew very well what the inhabitants of such cities suffer from. Therefore, having started doing business, he transferred amounts of money to various charitable foundations to form scholarships for students, from time to time held sales of goods for the poorest people, donated money to zoos, clinics, libraries, theaters.

After the release of this autobiographical book, the public finally recognized that Walton did a lot for the country and its people. In 1992, the American President awarded Sam Walton the Medal of Freedom. In the same year, Sam Walton died, and the business passed to his wife and children.

Descendants of Walton

Today, many critics say that Walton's children did nothing useful for the company, but only reap the fruits of their father's work and perseverance. Others say that Walton's descendants are still guided by the principles that their father adhered to in doing business, and therefore the Wal-Mart chain will never go bankrupt. One way or another, Sam Walton's children - Jim, Alice, John, Robson, and wife Helen are among the richest people in the world, and if you add their fortunes together, then the richest family in the world.

Best quotes by Sam Walton

1. Always be the first to talk to the person. If I always waited to be approached or spoken to, I would never have formed the network of my contacts that is so necessary in business.
2. Your only boss is your customer. This person is able to bankrupt an entire company, or demote its director to a security guard, simply by starting to regularly buy goods in another store.
3. In any store, salespeople will treat customers the same way store management treats salespeople.
4. When people ask me about savings, I always say the same phrase: “In my entire life, I bought eighteen aircraft. But I didn't buy any of them new."
5. Don't go with the flow. swim above him.

Wal-Mart is an American retailer operating the world's largest retail chain operating under the Walmart brand. The headquarters is in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company takes 1st place in the Fortune Global 500 (2010).

About 50% of the shares in Wal-Mart stores are owned by the heirs of the founder of the company, Sam Walton. Chairman of the Board of Directors - Robson Walton. The general manager is Lee Scott. Hillary Clinton, wife of President Bill Clinton, was a board member of Wal-Mart from 1986-1992.

Walmart is the world's largest retail chain, with (as of 2012) over 10,130 stores in 27 countries. Among them are both hypermarkets and supermarkets selling food and industrial goods. The network strategy includes such components as the maximum range and minimum, tending to wholesale, prices. Walmart's main competitors in the US retail market are Home Depot, Kroger, Sears Holdings Corporation, Costco and Target. Walmart is a leader in the implementation of technologies related to the use of RFID tags in commerce.

The total number of the company's personnel is 2.1 million people (January 2010). Turnover of the company in 2009 - $405.0 billion (in 2008 - $401.2 billion), net profit - $14.33 billion ($13.4 billion in 2008), operating profit - $23.95 billion ($22.7 billion in 2008).

Story

2018

Savings of $200 million after switching to LED lighting

On October 16, 2018 it became known of reduction of annual expenses of Walmart for $200 million in connection with transition to light-emitting diode lighting (LED). The world's largest retailer saved another $20 million thanks to the use of a new mastic for polishing floors.

According to him, such a project is not only aimed at caring for the environment, but also allows the retail chain to significantly reduce costs.

According to CNBC, in the US alone, Walmart spends tens of billions of dollars buying goods and services that the company does not sell in its stores, but uses itself. We are talking, for example, about travel services and all kinds of spare parts. One of these things is mastic for rubbing floors.

Walmart's slogan is "Everyday Low Prices". To live up to this motto, a company needs to sell cheap products, and to do that, it needs to save itself. The less spending Walmart has, the more shoppers save on their purchases, CNBC reports.

In addition, Walmart is forced to save money in connection with the acquisition of companies. For example, in 2018, Walmart acquired a 77 percent stake in Indian retailer Flipkart for $16 billion. In connection with this transaction, Walmart worsened its revenue forecast for fiscal year 2019 to include expenses of $0.25 per share related to financing the acquisition. leader in the Indian e-commerce market.

Online cinema

The American network of retail stores Walmart confirmed in July 2018 rumors about its intention to launch a video-on-demand (VOD) service as early as 2018. According to Advanced Television, the streaming service is scheduled to launch in the last quarter of 2018 through the Vudu platform, which operates on an advertising model. Walmart acquired this platform in 2010 for $100 million.

The service will provide access to a library of licensed TV shows, movies and original programming at a lower price than key competitors like Netflix and Amazon. It also appears to be considering launching the service on a free, ad-supported model.

Launch of virtual 3D shopping

At the end of June 2018, Walmart launched a virtual 3D shopping service on the Internet. In a special section on the retailer's website, customers can "walk into" the designed apartment, which is lined with items available for instant purchase. While exploring a home, buyers click on items of interest to get more information about them.

By the time the service was announced, there were about 70 products from both third-party manufacturers and Walmart itself. Mostly furniture and the most important household goods are available. In the virtual apartment, you can find a Microsoft Xbox One game console and a Samsung refrigerator, but it is not yet possible to select and order them.

In July 2018, Walmart will allow product groups to be added to the shopping cart so that users can select multiple items to purchase at once and imagine how they will look together.

Opening of the first high-tech mini-store

In early April 2018, Walmart launched what the company claims is its first high-tech mini-supermarket. In it, purchases can be paid through the messenger, and most goods are also available for purchase via the Internet.

The outlet, located in southern Shenzhen, sells more than 8,000 items, including fresh fruit, fried mussels and more, Reuters reported citing a statement from Walmart. Visitors can pay for their purchases using WeChat messenger using their smartphones .

At the end of March 2018, Walmart and the Chinese holding Tencent entered into an agreement under which the American retailer began using the WeChat Pay service to pay for purchases in all of its stores in the west of China. The supermarket in Shenzhen was the first in this project.

In addition to the ability to pay for products through a mobile application, the new point of sale is also interesting because about 90% of the entire range is available in the Walmart online store on the JD.com site, part of which is owned by the American online retail giant.

All people who come to the "smart" Walmart supermarket, as well as users of JD.com, can order the delivery of purchased products. True, the store will deliver goods only to those places that are located within a radius of 2 km. It is claimed that delivery will be carried out in a maximum of 29 minutes.

Walmart is actively introducing new technologies into its retail network. So, at the beginning of 2018, about 100 grocery stores of the retailer received the Scan & Go service, which allows customers to scan product barcodes in a mobile application and pay for purchases via phone. Thanks to the innovation, there is no need to stand in queues and use the services of cashiers. Until the end of 2018, Scan & Go should work in 200 Walmart supermarkets.

2017: The Wal-Mart retailer accelerated warehouse accounting by means of robots

American retail chain

2013: Wal-Mart figured out what to do with big data

In May 2013, it became known that one of the largest retailers in the world, Wal-Mart, found an interesting use for the so-called "big data": Wal-Mart's accounting systems accumulate data on transactions when buying goods and a list of items purchased by a specific person. Based on the analysis of this data, Wal-Mart intends to create individual shopping lists and send them out using a mobile application.

Gibu Thomas(Gibu Thomas), Wal-Mart's head of mobile technology, said this is just one of the initiatives to boost in-store sales through e-commerce. “The future of retail, paradoxically, is in its past, in creating personal interactive communication with each customer individually through smartphones,” he said. Citing an unnamed study of the US market, he also added that in-store purchases fueled by mobile technology could double the size of the e-commerce market in 2016.

Wal-Mart's head of mobile technology: "The best shopping list is the one you don't have to make"

Mobile devices already account for about a third of Walmart.com's traffic, according to Thomas. Moreover, those users who use the Wal-Mart smartphone app go to the network's offline stores more often than other customers and spend 40% more, he added. At the same time, most of the network's clients have smartphones at their disposal.

The Wal-Mart app already has a shopping list feature, but it requires user input. In addition, it tells you where to find a specific product on the shelf, as well as gives you digital coupons for discounts. Wal-Mart is also testing a system called "Scan and Go", which works like this: shoppers scan each item with their smartphone when placing it in the shopping cart at the hypermarket, and then use the smartphone at the checkout to pay for it themselves. shopping.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is an American company, the world's largest retail chain. The headquarters is in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company takes 1st place in the Fortune Global 500 (2010).
Founded in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton.
About 50% of the shares in Wal-Mart belong to the heirs of the founder of the company, Sam Walton.
Chairman of the Board of Directors - Robson Walton. General Manager - Mike Duke (since January 2009). Hillary Clinton, wife of US President Bill Clinton, was a board member of Wal-Mart from 1986-1992.

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retail chain, which includes (as of mid-February 2007) 6,782 stores in 14 countries. Among them are both hypermarkets and supermarkets selling food and industrial goods. Wal-Mart's strategy includes such components as the maximum assortment and minimum, tending to wholesale, prices. Wal-Mart's main competitors in the US retail market are the Home Depot, Kroger, Sears Holdings Corporation, Costco, and Target chains.

Wal-Mart is a leader in the implementation of technologies related to the use of RFID tags in commerce.
The total number of the company's personnel is 2 million people (2009).

The company's turnover in 2008 - $405.6 billion (growth by 7%, in 2007 - $378.5 billion), net profit - $13.4 billion (growth by 5.5%, $12.7 billion in 2007), operating profit - $22.8 billion (growth by 3.6%, $22 billion in 2007).

Events during the management of Lee Scott (2000-2009):

During this period, the network became the object of attention from the press and trade unions. In 2001, Counting Pennies: How to (Not) Make Ends Meet in America by Barbara Ehrenreich was published. This book described Wal-Mart from the inside and contained numerous descriptions of violations of workers' rights while working at the company.

During this period, the South Korean and German Wal-Mart projects were closed:

South Korean project Wal-Mart
There were 11 large retail stores operating in the South Korean market. Wal-Mart tried for several years to overcome the break-even threshold in the market, but the network administration was forced to admit defeat and sell outlets to a competitor. According to marketing experts, this store format has not become generally popular in the Korean market.
German Wal-Mart Project
The German market was entered in 1998 through the purchase of local retail chains Interspar and Wertkauf. According to experts, the losses in this market amounted to $100 million annually.
On July 27, 2006, Wal-Mart officially announced the sale of 85 stores, employing over 11,000 people, the total turnover of the retail cluster is ?2 billion per year. The buyer was Metro Group. The amount of the deal has not been disclosed by buyers or sellers, but Wal-Mart says 19 Wal-Mart hypermarkets have been acquired and the remainder are leased. The new owner plans to open Real hypermarkets on the territory of the acquired stores.

Wal-Mart in Russia
Representatives of Wal-Mart have repeatedly stressed the importance of the Russian market for the company. In September 2008, Wal-Mart registered a subsidiary legal entity in Russia - OOO VM Eastern Europe Holdings, LLK. This company joined the Association of Retail Companies (AKORT), which is the main lobbyist for the interests of Russian retail chains.

The largest Russian retail chain in terms of turnover and revenue is currently owned by X5 Retail Group, which owns such chains as Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel. In December 2008, there were press reports that Wal-Mart was negotiating a joint venture with X5 Retail Group - X5 would bring Karusel stores into the joint venture, and Wal-Mart would invest in the further development of hypermarkets. X5 CEO Lev Khasis only noted that his company is “theoretically ready for a joint venture,” but does not comment on negotiations with Wal-Mart.

Sam Walton- empire builder wal mart .

Mr. Sam was a truly unique person. Probably the most successful entrepreneur in the history of the world. His company, with sales in excess of $300 billion in 2005, continues its explosive growth today. With approximately 7,000 stores worldwide and creating 2 million jobs, Wal-Mart is a big force to be reckoned with. Interestingly, Sam Walton never set out to make Wal-Mart the biggest company on the planet; his goal was to be the best company!

Company wal mart Since its foundation, it has been following a strategy of low prices. Strategies through which it can offer products cheaper than other competitors.

On the one hand, this is, of course, a huge plus for buyers. But on the other hand, this entails such consequences as low salaries of employees, the ruin of Wal-Mart's smaller competitors (including local players), through which many people lose their jobs. Finally, Wal-Mart encourages the degrading of certain products in this perpetual race for low prices.

At the same time, the quality of not only goods that are sold in wal mart, but also those who challenged the company by abandoning it. They still have to make adjustments to the manufacturing process because Wal-Mart's low prices don't let them breathe freely. wal mart dictates his conditions for suppliers. Even as big as Procter & Gamble. Everyone does not like it, but there is no choice. It all started with a smile...

Founder of Wal-Mart Sam Walton I believed all my life that success can only be achieved thanks to perseverance, continuous improvement and a friendly attitude towards customers and partners(= employees of the company). America remembers her hero with a constant smile on his face, greets customers in such a way that he talks to employees. Walton had a big goal, and he walked towards it, guided by his values.

Youth

The future "king of trade" was born in the small town of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, in 1918. Little is known about his childhood, and he himself was not disposed to memories of him. His parents often quarreled and generally did not get along well with each other. Therefore, Sam often had to gain life wisdom in street universities. He disappeared either at the stadium or in the company of scouts. And since childhood, he learned two lessons well: you can achieve something only by perseverance, and a smile helps in this.

Sam started working at the age of 7 as a delivery boy for the morning papers. In addition, the future founder of Wal-Mart was actively involved in sports - basketball and American football. Subsequently, he will remember that it was football that taught him how to play as a real team. It was there that he realized how to compensate for his disadvantages at the expense of partners.

After high school, Sam Walton went to the University of Missouri, from which he graduated in 1940. His specialty was economics. After all, already at that time he showed great interest in retail. At the same time, he worked as a manager in a small company. All this was a necessary experience for him. At 42, Walton is drafted into the army. Certainly not for war. Sam was diagnosed with heart problems, through which he was sent to serve in one of the DuPont gunpowder factories. The service turned out to be successful, because it was there that Sam met a girl named Helen Robson, with whom he would live the rest of his life.

Returning to his native land, and feeling like a hero, Sam decided to put pressure on his father-in-law in order to take a loan from him. The father-in-law could not resist, and the start of his own business was laid. Sam Walton received a $20,000 loan. Borrowing another 5,000 from relatives, Sam and Helen opened a store with the money in Newport, Arkansas, with a proud sign of "Ben Franklin" - a well-known trademark (under a franchise agreement).

Walton's shop was ridiculously small, even for Newport with its 4,000 inhabitants. The only big shop in town belonged to Mr. Sterling. It seemed futile to compete with him. But it only seemed. Sam knew for sure: perseverance and a charming smile can make a big difference.

He personally met each visitor on the doorstep and showed such cordiality, as if he saw a long-awaited, dear and close person. He communicated with him as if he had opened his own shop exclusively for him. He spent hours talking to each client about everything in the world. He tirelessly talked about his son Robson and family affairs.

First successes and failures

And the ice has broken! Less than a year later, the gloomy Sterling was forced to give way to Sam Walton buyers, and there the palm in all financial reports.

Success inspired. To borrow money again, Sam expanded the trade: he bought a tray with ice cream. Now he felt a real business excitement. That there were long lines of children for ice cream gave him great pleasure. Maybe even more than the queue at the checkout of the store.

Five years later, Walton's small shop has become the most profitable outlet of the Ben Franklin chain. And the owner of this trademark began to be tormented by envy. He decided that it was not the seller's attempts at all, but the brand. When the next term for the renewal of the contract for the lease of Sam's retail space approached, he was refused.

Birth of Wal-Mart

In this city, Sam opens his first store called "Five & Ten Cents". It was then that he turned his attention to a strategy of low prices. To do this, Walton tried in every possible way to avoid intermediaries, buying goods from the manufacturers themselves. In addition, he cut prices, making less profit than competitors. Sam Walton thought it would pay off in the long run. He was right.

For 10 years was o Opened 10 Five & Ten Cents stores. However, some of them are outside of Arkansas - in the state of Missouri. During these 10 years, Walton devoted himself not only to his family, but also to the study of trade. He wanted to combine small, family-run stores run by their own owners with huge supermarkets located in major cities. It was clear that he needed atmosphere from the first, and scale from the second. At the same time, Walton not only read a lot, but most of all he liked to visit shops and supermarkets, and note in his notebook interesting ideas that constantly came across his path.

It was then that the future strategy of Wal-Mart was formed. The whole point was that it was simply impossible to open a large supermarket in a large city in the east. Expensive land, labor, competition from large and rich companies - all these were factors that small provincials could not pull. Walton thought, why not start by opening large supermarkets in small towns on the outskirts. The big players of that time did not look there. Rent was much cheaper, and labor was not as expensive as in the center of a big city.

In 1962, the first Wal-Mart store was opened, which was then called Waltons Five & Dime. The store was located on the outskirts of the city of Rogers, and immediately attracted the attention of local residents. They all noted that it was a really big supermarket, like in big cities. But besides that, it differed from them with low prices and a friendly atmosphere of a small family shop. Finally, it is worth noting that the Walton family hired local residents in such stores, which further set them up for the company. Subsequently, it turned out that several generations of which family worked all their lives at Wal-Mart. Hence the belief that Wal-Mart creates many new jobs. It used to be so, but not now.

After 5 years, in 1967, he already had 24 stores, and sales reached $ 12 million. Sam remains true to his chosen strategy, and it does not fail him. He himself travels to buy goods, and is not afraid to take risks and lose, because he is sure that he will succeed.

Sam always told his employees, “There is one boss, the customer. He can remove anyone in the company, from the director to the loader, by simply spending the money elsewhere.”

Later, in memoirs Sam Walton formulated ten universal commandments of success .

Be committed to business.

Share profits with partners (as he called the store staff).

Motivate partners.

Discuss problems with partners.

Appreciate what partners do.

Celebrate success.

Listen to each partner.

Anticipates customer expectations.

Control your expenses.

Swim over the course.

In general, some of them are quite vague. Although for the author they are clear and not only verified, but also gained through rich practice.

Note that half of these commandments apply to partners. By them, Sam understood his store employees. He tried to communicate with them as often as possible and demanded the same from the members of the board of directors of the company.

« The best ideas came to us from clerks and warehouse workers (among them - free parking at the store and permission to take carts of goods directly to the car). If you take care of store employees, then they, in turn, will take care of customers in the same way.", - he said ... All his life, Walton remained friendly with everyone, and especially with junior staff.

Good deeds

Walton's benevolence towards people was not ostentatious, but sincere. It is characteristic that he never advertised his charity. Having lived all his life in small provincial towns, he knew their problems well. While building a new store, he forced his employees to find out the addresses of local charitable foundations. In order to make contributions later.

It became the rule that everyone opened a store, set up scholarships for local college students, and held occasional charity sales. Money was donated to zoos, libraries, hospitals, theaters, churches, fire departments. They did not ignore the mayors of small towns. He created the American Hometown Leadership Award, which honors those provincial councilors who carry out long-term projects in their homelands.

In 1992, Walton published his autobiography Made in America: My Story (Made in America: My Story). It quickly became a bestseller and caused such a resonance that his services to American society could no longer be ignored. And in March 1992, US President George W. Bush (senior) presented Sam Walton with the Medal of Freedom. In the same year, Sam Walton died.

Until the end of his days, he remained himself. "Star disease" did not touch him. The billionaire treated fame indifferently. He still drove around his stores in a pickup truck, ignoring the luxury limousines. And he preferred the company of his beloved dogs to the companies of bankers and oligarchs.

Wal-Mart today

Sam Walton's business is alive and well. Today, this "empire" has more than 4 thousand stores scattered around the world, with a daily assortment of seventy thousand products. It is the world's largest retail chain operator, retailing toys, electronics, pharmaceuticals, footwear, textiles and more.

Total sales exceed $200 billion a year. Wal-Mart stores serve more than 100 million shoppers a week. Today, according to the Financial Times, it is the most respected company in the world, symbolized by a wide smile of a cheerful person.

The principles that guided the creator of the trading empire are not outdated. They cannot become obsolete, because they are based on the “human factor”. And not only trade, but also any business will flourish if it is focused, first of all, on a person, on his needs. Seemingly banal truths. But it was they who helped not only Walton, but also many others to become big businessmen.

If you visit today from Wal-Mart stores in America, any salesman or packer will kindly tell you about the Law of 10 Steps. This is a list of the above rules, crystallized by "Uncle Sam" half a century ago. But they are relevant today, and therefore it is like an oath for a recruit.

Appreciate the smile

A prospective "partner" salesperson, upon entering a job at any Wal-Mart store, solemnly vows that whenever a customer is within 10 steps of him, smile at him and ask if he needs help. “The bigger Wal-Mart department stores get, the more we need to avoid megalomania while maintaining the small-store feel,” said Sam Watson. And it became an axiom.

And today, eleven years after his death, the progressive inertia of the ideas of the great merchant keeps the family income in the top ten. billionaires of the world. They say that his children, who are well over fifty, did nothing special for the prosperity of the family business. In his old age, he enjoys gardening and equestrian sports. Almost nothing is written about the sons of the Walton family.

Even Forbes magazine, which accompanies a short biography of each person in the rating, allowed itself to write the same thing in the accompanying article about Helen, Alice, Jimmy and Johnny Walton: about the merits of their father, to whom they owe this money. And the ubiquitous journalists are haunted by the thought: how many years will it take for children to have nothing left of Sam Walton's fortune.

Perhaps they are slandering Sam's descendants in vain. If they continue to cherish the principles bequeathed by the founding father, then the envious will never wait for the impoverishment of the Waltons. So far, they are all among the ten richest people on the planet. So, probably, his son Jim Walton takes the sixth position with his $ 20.8 billion, his other son John - the seventh ($ 20.7 billion), the daughter Alice - the eighth ($ 20500000000). And Helen Walton, widow of the late founder of the Walton empire, holds 9th place with a net worth of $20.4 billion. The third son, Robson, was less fortunate, in tenth place ($18.5 billion).

And now count - how many in the family as a whole. Over $100 billion! Where is Bill Gates. And therefore - appreciate a person, appreciate a smile, love your client the way Sam Watson loved him and you will see that your business will go uphill!

Read more...

In the late 1940s, when Sam Walton was franchising Ben Franklin's General Store in Newport, Arkansas, he was preoccupied with a simple but important problem. Like any retailer, he was always on the lookout for great deals from suppliers. Walton knew he could do better by increasing profits with more sales. This understanding would become the cornerstone of Sam's business strategy when he founded Wal-Mart in 1962. He clearly knew.

The desire for low prices was a natural target for Walton. And although he was considered the richest man in the United States in the 1980s, he never gave a $5 tip to a local barber. Cost cutting was something of an obsession for him, and Sam sought to save not only on his personal expenses, but even on his managers. Sending employees on business trips, he exclusively purchased bus tickets for them, and always booked hotel rooms for them. Even a cup of coffee in the office cost 10 cents.

The effect of wages on the price of coffee

Walton realized that one of the main requirements for cost reduction was the absence of wages. As he wrote in his autobiography in 1992, in the retail business, wages are one of the most important parts of the cost that must be fought in order to maintain the desired level of profit. That is why he has always fought the unions, and almost always successfully.

But the entrepreneur's ability to keep his staff happy helped him in 1985 amid worries about the trade deficit and job cuts in America. Sam launched his "Made in America" ​​campaign to buy American-made products. In 1971, he introduced a plan that allowed employees to receive a percentage of their wages to buy subsidized Wal-Mart stock.

How should an employee behave with a client?

Equally important to Walton was the ability of employees to be able to sell goods. The workers were trained. He taught his managers that whenever a client approaches them, they should make eye contact, greet them, and ask if they can help.

He stimulated employees by talking about improving leadership qualities through communication and, accordingly, career growth. Each person had the opportunity to rise from the position of an ordinary salesman to a department manager, store or even regional manager.

He even introduced a symbolic oath. All employees at the time of hiring raised their right hand and said: "From this day forward, I solemnly promise and declare that every client who approaches me less than three meters, I will smile, make eye contact and greet him." As you know, the human factor is one of the main ones.

Competitive advantages of Wal-Mart

Of course, Wal-Mart's success lies in more than just charisma and frugality. The management technologies used in this company have helped it to stay ahead of its competitors. As early as the 1970s, Wal-Mart was using computers to establish constant communication and accounting between stores and warehouses. Just at that time, the active development of computer technology began, which was facilitated by Apple Corporation. and other companies.

Sales data allowed Wal-Mart to keep track of items and reduce miscalculations and inventory errors. Throughout his career, Walton will emphasize this kind of innovation, making Wal-Mart a consistent leader in terms of productivity and growth.

Difficulties surrounding Walton's death

When Walton died in 1992, the company had a hard time, as Wal-Mart's management had emphasized for years that their firm depended on a set of principles and habits more than anyone else. His death changed the perception of this company.

Wal-Mart began to change after Walton's death. It was the same as in the period when the company was just developing its business. Wal-Mart's new leaders took to heart one element of the founder's business philosophy, the importance of cutting costs, but they failed to deliver on it, ignoring the importance of decision making and front-line employees who, according to Sam, should feel as if the future of the company depends on them.

By this step, the leadership immediately placed itself at a disadvantage. However, the company has grown. Walton is a great man who has managed to achieve a lot. Read about other successful businessmen.

Using a new strategy

Between 1997 and 2001, the value of the company's shares increased by more than 500%. This no doubt helped to calm employees who were unhappy with the decline at the beginning of the decade. Between 1996 and 1999, sales increased by 78% and inventory increased by 24%.

At this stage in its development, the fall in popularity of weekly shopping in supermarkets forced Wal-Mart to turn to small stores, which became its new strategy.

In addition, the American company decided to try its hand at the international online grocery market, where its competitor will be Amazon, whose investments in this sector reach significant volumes.