Wal-mart Vows to Rebound From Lost Revenue

Wal-Mart’s revenue fell over the last year by an average of 0.75 percent each quarter according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. But it’s competitors revenue increased, Target gained 1.7 percent, Costco gained 8 percent, and Family Dollar had increased 5.9 percent over the last year. Part of Wal-Mart’s strategy to recover is expanding in cities and neighborhoods where others dare not go.

Wal-Mart thrived when the Great Recession came in late 2007, it’s prices were hard to beat, the selections were great and the convenience for it’s customers were the reason. Wal-Mart’s $27 billion in revenue ending in January 2009 came from basic items such as food, pharmacy and household products. Mike Duke, CEO at Wal-Mart said that while cleaning up their stores and doing renovations; they began to lose revenue during the later part of 2009.

Shoppers complained that Wal-Mart no longer had the items they wanted and their “everyday low prices” were diminishing returns. They became less aggressive about being the low-price leader. They decided to slash prices only on select products, this plan was set to draw customers into the stores for bargains with hopes they would also buy more profitable items, the strategy failed.

For many of Wal-Mart’s customers, it was their only place to shop, especially for households making less than $70,000 per year income. Shoppers spent 13 percent more on basic items during 2007 to the year ending January 2009. To bounce back from it’s lost in revenue lately; Wal-Mart is again emphasizing low prices. Wal-Mart is committed to making and selling healthier choices over the next five years.