QUESTION 1: Do you think Wal-Mart could translate its merchandising strategy wholesale to another country and succeed? If not, why not?

ANSWER 1: Wal-Mart has found that in order to appeal to local markets, it must be willing to make some changes in its merchandising strategy. In Mexico for example, Wal-Mart hired local managers to handle its merchandising, and it an effort to better meet the needs of local customers, Wal-Mart built smaller stores that people could walk to, and stocked more fresh produce. In China, Wal-Mart changed its packaging of meat and offered live fish because the Chinese prefer fresh meat and fish. In the countries where Wal-Mart stumbled, Germany and South Korea, Wal-Mart’s discount strategy failed. Consumers in both countries preferred to shop at rival stores that stocked higher quality merchandise. Some of us may wonder whether Wal-Mart might have succeeded in these countries had it been willing to stock some higher quality merchandise as well. However, other may note that doing so would go against the strategy that has proved to be so successful for the company.

QUESTION 2: Why do you think Wal-Mart was successful in Mexico?

ANSWER 2: It can be said that Wal-Mart’s success in Mexico is linked to the company’s willingness to move in to the market slowly, adapt to local market preferences, and join forces with local retailer, Cifra. After entering the market, Wal-Mart quickly discovered that having a single large store selling large packages would not be successful in Mexico where many people walked to stores and lacked storage space. The company changed hired local managers who understood the market, and allowed the local managers to control the merchandising strategy. Wal-Mart then worked to change the shopping habits of Mexican consumers to come closer a typical Wal-Mart shopper. By teaming up with the country’s largest retailer, the company was able to benefit from Cifra’s knowledge of the local marketplace.

QUESTION 3: Why do you think Wal-Mart failed in South Korea and Germany? What are the differences between these countries, and Mexico?

ANSWER 3: Wal-Mart stumbled badly in South Korea and Germany. In both countries, consumers resisted the company’s discount strategy, and chose instead to shop at rival stores that better met their shopping preferences. We may think that Wal-Mart’s discount strategy worked better in Mexico because it fit better with consumer preferences but it can be said either that in both South Korea and Germany, Wal-Mart had to convince consumers to leave the competition and shop in its stores, whereas in Mexico, Wal-Mart teamed up with Cifra, a large retailer with a similar product line to the line carried by Wal-Mart.

QUESTION 4: What must Wal-Mart do to succeed in China? Is it on track?

ANSWER 4: In China, Wal-Mart seems to be following a strategy similar to its strategy in Mexico. The company is slowly expanding and is adapting its strategy to meet the needs of Chinese consumers. Wal-Mart has found that the Chinese share many buying behaviors with American consumers – they like the deep discounts offered by Wal-Mart. To ensure its success in the country, Wal-Mart has strayed from its traditional strategy to embrace the notion of unions. This decision has led the company to purchase a stake in China’s Trust-Mart chain, which should allow Wal-Mart to expand even further. Wal-Mart now considers China its most important growth market. It can be stated that Wal-Mart appears to be on track in the country.

QUESTION 5: To what extent can a company like Wal-Mart change the culture of the nation where it is doing business?

ANSWER 5: It can be said that Wal-Mart can indeed change the shopping habits, and therefore culture, of a country in which it does business. If we consider, Wal-Mart’s experiences in Mexico as evidence of this phenomenon. But there’s an argument can be created that the shopping habits of Mexican consumers were not changed by Wal-Mart per se, but rather by the effects of globalization which allowed companies like Cifra and Wal-Mart to thrive. China for example, already had successful discount chains like Trust-Mart when Wal-Mart entered the market. It can be further note that in countries like Germany and South Korea where consumers preferred other types of retailers, Wal-Mart was unsuccessful.