Marketing Strategy Recommendation: Walmart

Marketing strategy is essential to the success and consistent profitability of any company. It provides a targeted plan based on consumer wants and needs as well as long term objectives and goals. The following will provide recommendations for a development of marketing strategy for the fortune 500 company Walmart. Based on an understanding of consumer attitudes and needs, this project defines areas of interest and opportunity for new services and market segments. I recommend that Walmart review the potential for providing personal shoppers and home delivery in an effort to capture the market of people who are physically unable, or do not have the means to get to the store to purchase necessary items. This area of interest flows into the identification of a new segment as well. Walmart can target those without transportation, or those who cannot run their own errands for this home delivery program that will solve the problem of having to wait for family and friends to take them shopping.

Area of Interest

An area of interest for Walmart may be home delivery. Those who are medically incapacitated, those who are elderly, or those who don’t have vehicles may be willing to pay to have someone shop for them and bring their groceries to their home or residence. While other small niche companies are available to do this, Walmart may be able to increase its clientele and expand its profits if they took over this role as a company. This service would serve to provide consistency for those who are unable to go shopping on their own. It would also allow Walmart to charge a premium fee, increasing revenues. Although Walmart is known for its low prices, those who are unable to run their own personal errands may be more apt to pay a premium for this type of service. Walmart can either structure a segment within the company to handle these orders, or hire a third party service to do the shopping. This will allow them to benefit from the exchange via branding, without having to spend significant dollars establishing the system internally. Walmart can even establish a discount offer with the third party provider in exchange for their partnership. Walmart will stand to gain increased revenues and will also gain increased publicity and media exposure for their new service.

The process will be simple. Clients would go to Walmart's website and choose the products they need by going down virtual grocery store aisles. The order will be processed and a third party provider will stock the order and deliver it to the client. Walmart will be able to market and brand themselves by extending their service offering, and will experience improved profits and revenues as a result of the increased business. A pilot program is a sufficient way to begin implementing this strategy recommendation in order to determine how effective it is and analyze its logistics.

New Segment

This program is also aligned with the new segment recommended for Walmart. For positioning purposes, Walmart should create special branding opportunities to market to those who can’t, or do not want to run their grocery errands. This will include the elderly, those lacking transportation, and those who are too busy to shop for themselves. Targeting this segment of the market for personal shopping and delivery services will provide Walmart with engagement opportunities that will help the company maintain market share. This new segment will include those who are medically unable to travel, those who do not have transportation, as well as those who too busy to go grocery shopping or just prefer not to. Walmart’s focus on personal shopping and home delivery as an area of interest provides them with a significant marketing and branding opportunity. Attracting the new segment will be helpful in increasing revenue and profits for the company. As a whole, this recommended strategic marketing plan will serve to meet customer needs as well as accomplish the long term revenue increase objectives of the company. Seizing this marketing opportunity will improve the lives of the target market while positioning Walmart as a value added brand.

Summary Statement and Description

The nature of my project is to position Walmart as a value added brand by incorporating a personal shopping and delivery element to the typical shopping experience. Walmart is known for its low, low, prices, but customers who are unable or unwilling to go grocery shopping will pay a premium for someone to shop for and deliver goods. This project will create a new segment of shoppers who are unwilling or unable to run their own grocery errands. It will include those who are medically incapacitated, those without transportation, and others who are too busy to shop for themselves. Offering this as an option will create additional value for shopping at Walmart, and position it as an even stronger and more profitable leader in the market.

It is recommended that this be incorporated by partnering with a third party company who can facilitate the logistics of the shopping and delivery. Using this structure, the Walmart brand will be able to benefit from the added value without having to allocate talent and funds for the basic structural process. The nature of this project is intended to increase publicity for Walmart and increase its profits and revenues as a result of improved market share.

The new segment will create clientele that otherwise would not shop for themselves. They will be able to shop more often without the hassle of depending on a friend or family member to help them. Those who are unwilling or unable to go shopping on their own is the target market because this group has a problem that is solved by this potential new service. This includes the elderly, college kids without cars, and even busy parents who don’t have time to shop between work and school activities. Delivery and consistency is important to this target market because they are preoccupied with other tasks or ailments that hinder them from shopping for themselves. Most importantly, this target market must eat and consume like everyone else but may be without efficient means to get the things that they need. As a result, this segment of people who are unable or unwilling to do their own grocery shopping is the target market and segment of this new venture and service.

Concept Statement and Interview Subjects

The concept statement is “An efficient personal shopping and delivery service for those unable or unwilling to shop for themselves”. I will support this concept statement with further explanation and details when discussing the new service with interviewees from the target market. I would select a range of individuals for my interview, including a group of elderly people and those who are unable to get around easily or at all. I will also interview college students and others who do not have vehicles to get their input on the service, how it will benefit them, and if they could see themselves using it. Busy parents who have a full schedule would also be interviewed in order to provide a well-rounded understanding of the market and the potential for the new shopping and delivery service. These brief descriptions of the interview subjects directly reflect the definition of the target market. Interviewing individuals within this market will provide valuable feedback and data with which to apply to the new service structure. It will also provide insight related to how the service can most effectively be marketed to those within the target market.

Moderators Guide

The moderator’s guide used to conduct the interviews will cover research objectives, respondent profiles and interview logistics. It will also provide an introduction, topic overview, and specific questions and activities in order to maintain interview structure. The respondent questions within the guide will include the following:

1. How often do you go grocery shopping?

2. If very seldom, why?

3. Do you ever find that you have run out of food or products and you have to depend on a friend or family member to bring it to you?

4. If you could order your goods online and have them delivered to you, would you use the service?

5. How often do you think you would use the service?

6. Do you know of any companies that provide this service?

7. How much do you think a service like this will cost?

8. How much would you be willing to pay for this type of service?

9. Would being able to order goods and have them delivered quickly take away some of the pressure and stress of your life?

10. Do you have any concerns about this type of service, if so what?

11. What would be the biggest benefit of this type of service for you?

12. How do you feel about the Walmart brand?

13. Would you view Walmart differently if they established this service?

14. Would you shop at Walmart if they established this service?