“Wal-Mart’s new store ‘tethering’ concept is “Sonic-like” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “This notion of drive-in has prompted Wal-Mart to explore and test the drive-in depots that are not attached to a supercenter. Simon described the drive-in modular as a “Sonic-like.” Simon did not give specifics about the timeframe for the depot concept, but said it is part of the retailer’s tethering efforts to fully connect its digital orders with its massive physical infrastructure.”  Read more

 

“Excitement at P&G HQ:  Greenpeace Activists Get Past Security, Rappel Down Building, Hang 60 Foot Banner Protesting Head & Shoulders” at Cincy Enquirer.  “A helicopter…was involved, but police are still trying to determine how.  At about 1 p.m., activists climbed out and used the cords set up for window washers to rappel down the building and unfurl 60-foot banners. One female in the group wore a tiger suit.  One banner read: “Head & Shoulders: Stop Putting Tiger Survival on the Line,” the other, “Head & Shoulders: Wipes out Dandruff & Rainforests.”  See the video / Read more

 

“The Surprising First Jobs of 10 Famous CEOs (McMillon – Warehouse, Jelinek – Box Boy, Bezos – Camp Leader)” by Stephanie Vozza at Fast Company.  “From the time they were young, successful CEOs clocked in hours at jobs that were a far cry from the boardrooms they govern today. From oyster shucker to vacuum salesman, we discovered some of the surprising first jobs held by 10 famous CEOs.”  See the list of 10

 

“Lowe’s Names Michael Jones New Chief Customer Officer” at WSJ.  “Mr. Jones, currently the hardware retailer’s merchandising chief, will take over responsibility for customer-engagement initiatives, including merchandising, marketing and communications. He will assume his new post April 30, the company said.”  Read the release

 

“J.D. Power Announces 2014 Customer Service Champions (Amazon, Publix…)”  See the Full List

 

“Happening Tomorrow:  Costco Q2 Earnings Call at 8am PT”  Listen to Webcast

 

“Heard on the Call”, Walmart President & CEO, Bill Simon, Presents at Raymond James Conference (more detail on Express Stores, Grocery pickup & more) at Seeking Alpha.

Where we’ve been challenged, is in the fill-in trip. The — in between shopping trip, midweek shopping trip and this growth and quick trips about $415 billion in sales has interrupted our supercenter growth.

When you compare sales per square foot of (Neighborhood Market) stores to the major leading grocery chains,  we top the major grocery chains in sales per square foot.

You can put a neighborhood market in close proximity to a supercenter and we see an additional $300 a year from customer spent based on traceable tenders.

On testing Walmart Express stores:

* We have the best results in rural and the likes of suburban with pharmacy and with gas, and that’s exciting for us, a very nice model there.

*  We built a bench group of them in eastern part of North Carolina…we like the profitability, so we are pleased with that. And by the way in the second year, they did really nice in comp sales.

* This is a full capability store, has fuel and pharmacy and fresh and 10,000 SKUs right in your neighborhood…and fundamentally different and differentiated from the other formats that would compete in that space because of the breadth of the offering and the connectivity that we have through walmart.com.

* If you are on your way home today…you know you need to stop for gas, you can place your grocery order to be picked up when you get your gas. And if you want to shovel or to shovel your way out of the driveway when you get home…you can also order that and it will be available for you. We can do that by May. We will have one market up later in the year. We will have two other markets up.

*  We are going to add about 300 or so Small Stores next year that consists of about 200 Neighborhood Markets and about 100 more Express stores.

No need to build the drug store, we have these. No need to build the dollar store, we have these. No need to build the grocery store, we have these.

Q&A:

Is the pricing the same between the large format and the small format or are you charging more for the convenience that you provide?

*  It starts out the same. Let me put it to you that way. The aim is for it to be the same and we don’t charge more for the convenience. Some times we actually charge less for the competitive nature.

We’re going to try at some point, the (grocery) pickup module without a supercenter, right just to drive through, like, I don’t know like, kind of like a sonic, right.

Read the Full Transcript

See the PowerPoint presentation

 

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