LIBR 282 Using Social Media for Competitive and Company Research C. Confetti-Higgins S. Brown

I went on a journey through the internet and visited different sites to see what information was given about Wal-Mart. Some Sites Included:  Google  Facebook  Morning Star  Hoover’s Company Records  Bing  Yauba

 About 2.5 million friends on Facebook  Google News: bad press about Lawsuit  Bing News: More stories on Lawsuit  Yauba News: End of extra pay on Sundays  Yauba News: Wal-Mart partners with Salvation Army

 World’s largest retail store with more than 8,400 stores  2.1 million employees  Over 30 brand names and licenses  Sales of $46.7 Billion Dollars

 Target  Costco  K-Mart

 Target is #2 Retailer in US  1,745 stores in the US as well as target.com  351,000 employees  $65million in Sales

 Target Credit Card: save 5% w/purchase  Target expansion into Canada - several hundred within next 10 years  Renovation of over 340 stores  High Profile Designers: Isaac Mizrahi  Partnerships with well known Chefs: - Giada De Laurentiis  2,000 stores by 2011

 Largest Wholesale Club Operator  Membership Only to access stores  565 Membership Warehouse Stores  147,000 employees  $77,946 Million in Sales

 Doubling number of warehouse stores in the next ten years  Expansion in Asia and Mexico  Growth for Costco.com  Lawsuit similar to ours on Gender Discrimination for Female Managers

 #3 Retailer in the US  1,300 stores  Subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corp.  $16,219 Million in Sales

 Dropped Sales of more than 8% since 2007  Closure of more than 55 stores  Partnership with Sears has been disappointing  Revival of Layaway has provided double digit growth in 2010

 Lawsuit for Gender Discrimination 1 million female Wal-Mart employees will proceed with the lawsuit (filed back in 2001) that seeks billions of dollars in damages and accuses Wal-Mart of paying women less than men and promoting fewer females to management positions  Cut of extra pay for Sundays The stop of the extra $1 will not happen until next year and it will only impact new hires

Growth Abroad  Acquisition of 51% stake in South African retailer Massmart Holdings  Pending purchase of the Netto Food Stores in the UK  Consolidation of our two Latin American Businesses  Possible Expansion to Russia Stock Value  Morning Star has given our stocks a 3 star rating (fair return) Wal-Mart Foundation  Monetary as wells as product donations to many non-profit organizations all year round: Local & National

 Expansion of online products All competitors are expanding online store components by adding more products or services  Expansion Abroad All competitors are initiating expansion outside of the US  Expansion in the USA Most competitors are also adding to the number of stores they have in the US

 US economy not as strong as some abroad more resources should be placed in expanding abroad while the US economy balances out  Work on providing Wal Mart’s side of the story with negative news: ensure the facts are being presented  Continue to provide great products at low prices and make the experience convenient  Continue to use Social Tools to find information about Wal Mart or its competitors

 Put more resources into Walmart.com (Wal Mart Marketplace) Amazon.com is well known and liked and it will take time to have people move to Walmart.com

Wal-Mart continues to have an edge over the competition by being able to provide quality products at an affordable price. Wal Mart does a great job of using social media tools to keep their customers and future informed about their products and services. Wal-Mart is the number 1 retailer and it uses that advantage to provide their customers with various products from around the world. Being number 1 also opens the gate to criticism and scrutiny, but ultimately the customers have spoken and Wal-Mart continues to be the preferred retailer

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