Question

What do we have in common or not? 

About Costco :

Membership Fee for Purchasing of goods. Consumers are not Subscribing for Goods, but actually they are subscribing for Services.
They are selling at less margins to maintain Capped Margins.
Maximum, on all products the average margin in an year is 11-12%
For maintaining average margin, they have their own brands, where in that brands the margins are much higher than their average margin.
These higher margins of own brands will be compensated with lower margins of other brands to maintain average margin.
They don't offer lower prices only on weekends or on some other days, they continuously offer discounts throughout the year on most of the products.
High Employee wages - This allows employees to do more productive work rather than lazy.
Fewer Stock Keeping units - They have only limits brands in all segments, say only one or two brands in toothpaste. This allows them to gain higher margin as the brand-owners wants their product to be in store.
About Walmart:

Targeted both Wholesale and Retail Consumers.
They are using technology in a better way. This allows them for online sales high when compared with Costco.
Everyday Low prices - Mostly all the time they are offering discounts.
Large sales volume made possible by a large customer base and scale of operation.
They have divided the stores into categories based on the size and prices - Super-centers, Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets
A highly efficient supply chain system that maximizes productivity and reduces outlays. They have their own logistics which includes Tractors, Trailers and own drivers. This allows them to reduce costs of Transportation, on-time delivery of products.
Low operational and overhead costs - When compared with Costco, the employees salaries are less in Walmart. Their overhead costs are also less as they have their own Logistics facility and mostly they are doing business online also.
International Presence is an added advantage to Walmart .

What do we have in common or not? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are all familiar with both of these companies. I found that the easiest way to compare how each of them delivers value to its customers was to show them side by side in the table below. Both of these companies provide a unique and interesting service to their customers and they are very effective in the business of retailing.  

Please note, I have hyper-linked the specific words to where I found the information in the table below. For example, "customers" on the Costco side are linked and when you click on the link it will take you to the article.

WalmartCostco
Targets lower-income customersTargets higher-income customers  (Links to an external site.)
Spends about 2.4 Billion dollars of its revenue on advertising (Links to an external site.)Spends little to no money on advertising  (Links to an external site.)
Walmart is not typically known for its customer serviceInvests in their employees and their pay (Links to an external site.) creating a better experience for customers
Walmart stores are everywhere and customers can shop at any location with no added benefit or no motivation to choose a different Walmart location.Sells (Links to an external site.) memberships that include additional discounts, a wide selection of merchandise, and exclusive member services.
Walmart sales were 510.33 Billion (Links to an external site.)Memberships  account for about two-thirds of overall sales (149 Billion) (Links to an external site.)
Sam's Club has 599 Total Units (Links to an external site.)Costco has 785 Total Units (Links to an external site.)
Walmart has other stores that they have to stock and maintain costing them more money (Neighborhood Walmart, Walmart Supermarket, Sam's Club, etc.)Costco has just the Costco store
The perception of Walmart is that they have anything you need in one storeThe perception of Costco is that it is a bulk store to buy high-quality bulk items
Walmart Supercenter carries approximately 140,000 products (Links to an external site.)Costco warehouse carries only 3,700 distinct products

Homework Answers

Answer #1

Walmart and Costco are having common points such as:

1. They both are in same industry

2. They sell their products with low price ( either by providing discount or by minimising their margins)

3. They operate on a wide customer base.

4. They sell various kinds of products in their stores ( either district products or imported products / Own products or branded products)

5. They have numerous unit over the country to attract the people.

6. They provide a wide base of employment opportunities ( either with high pay or low pay)

7. They are into providing qualitative products to the customers.

8. They mainly concentrate on nische market ( either higher income customers or lower income customers)

Answer #2

answered by: webelieve
Know the answer?
Your Answer:

Post as a guest

Your Name:

What's your source?

Earn Coins

Coins can be redeemed for fabulous gifts.

Not the answer you're looking for?
Ask your own homework help question
Similar Questions
Business Problem-Solving Case Walmart and Amazon Duke It Out for E-Commerce Supremacy Walmart is the world’s...
Business Problem-Solving Case Walmart and Amazon Duke It Out for E-Commerce Supremacy Walmart is the world’s largest and most successful retailer, with $487.5 billion in 2014 sales and nearly 11,000 stores worldwide, including more than 4,000 in the United States. Walmart has 2.2 million employees and ranks first on the Fortune 500 list of companies. Walmart had such a large and powerful selling machine that it really didn’t have any serious competitors—until now. Today, Walmart’s greatest threat is Amazon.com, often...
What are the biggest challenges Costco will experience in trying to expand globally? Costco Wholesale Corporation...
What are the biggest challenges Costco will experience in trying to expand globally? Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American membership-only warehouse club selling a large range of products. The company opened its first warehouse in 1983 and currently is the second largest retailer in the U.S.—Walmart is number one. Costco, however, is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the U.S. Costco operates about 700 warehouses across the U.S. and abroad. As of November 2015, the company had international locations...
Analysis: This section should include the issue register as a bare minimum, but may include also...
Analysis: This section should include the issue register as a bare minimum, but may include also why-why diagrams, a Pareto chart, a waste table and/or value-added analysis table. Flow analysis or simulation of this case study might be possible but might require making a lot of assumptions given the provided data. The first part of the project: Introduction    Walmart has continued to retain the top position on the Fortune 500 list for a consecutive fifth year. The brand has...
Taking the Nike Experience Direct to Consumers Let’s say you’re upping your game and want to...
Taking the Nike Experience Direct to Consumers Let’s say you’re upping your game and want to exercise more. Maybe that means walking in the mornings, playing a pickup game after work, or running a marathon. Whatever your goal is, you need some new shoes, and Nike is your favored brand. If you’re like the majority of consumers, you head to a retail store to purchase a pair. Until recently, this was your only choice. Just a short while ago, if...
Wal-Mart Online Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in America. It is definitely the largest...
Wal-Mart Online Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in America. It is definitely the largest retailer, both in terms of the number of stores (8,970 worldwide in 2011) and the level of sales ($419 billion from the 2011 Annual Report). By pushing suppliers to continually reduce costs, Wal-Mart is known for pursuing low prices and the stores often attract customers solely in-terested in lower prices. With Wal-Mart’s expansion into groceries, the company has be-come the largest retail grocer in...
HORIZONTAL GROWTH AT KOLEDA PURERENT, INC. CASE SYNOPSIS The case of Koleda PureRent, Inc. illustrates how...
HORIZONTAL GROWTH AT KOLEDA PURERENT, INC. CASE SYNOPSIS The case of Koleda PureRent, Inc. illustrates how a smaller firm can achieve market power and survive through horizontal integration. Growth, however is only the beginning of a successful strategic process. It does not in sure long-term success, as there are numerous strategic challenges for this and other firms in similar circumstances. The firm has reached a size that could attract the attention of larger competitors. This new level of competition would...
What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important? A creative, distinctive strategy that sets a company...
What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important? A creative, distinctive strategy that sets a company apart from rivals and provides a competitive advantage is a company’s reliable ticket to above-average profits. Illustration Capsule 1.1 discusses how Apple’s strategy led to its becoming one of the most profitable companies in the world, with revenues of more than $225 billion. It’s reputation for superior technological innovation and design capabilities has made its products and services the most popular in the world....
summaries the following in your own words : 5. Horizontal Integration Horizontal integration is the range...
summaries the following in your own words : 5. Horizontal Integration Horizontal integration is the range of product and service segments that a firm serves within its market. A company who wants to expand its horizontal scope has an opportunity to do that through mergers and acquisitions. A merger is combining two or more companies into a single corporate entity, with the newly created company often taking on a new name. An acquisition is a combination in which one company,...
Asia’s e-commerce landscape has been booming in recent years. The swift adoption of smartphones and greater...
Asia’s e-commerce landscape has been booming in recent years. The swift adoption of smartphones and greater access to the internet has allowed consumers in the region to be a major force in the global digital economy. The expansion looks set to continue at a rapid pace. According to a November 2018 report by Fitch Solutions, e-commerce sales in the region are forecast to increase by 14.2% this year, with an estimated average annual increase of 14% over the medium term...
UPS COMPETES GLOBALLY WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY United Parcel Service (UPS) started out in 1907 in a...
UPS COMPETES GLOBALLY WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY United Parcel Service (UPS) started out in 1907 in a closet-sized basement office. Jim Casey and Claude Ryan—two teenagers from Seattle with two bicycles and one phone—promised the “best service and lowest rates.” UPS has used this formula successfully for more than a century to become the world’s largest ground and air package-delivery company. It’s a global enterprise with nearly 400,000 employees, 96,000 vehicles, and the world’s ninth largest airline. Today UPS delivers 16.3...
ADVERTISEMENT
Need Online Homework Help?

Get Answers For Free
Most questions answered within 1 hours.

Ask a Question
ADVERTISEMENT