Walmart has faced a torrent of lawsuits and issues involving workers’ low wages, poor working conditions, inadequate health care, and issues involving the company's strong anti-union policies. The company gives its managers a 53-page handbook called 'A Manager’s Toolbox to Remaining Union-Free' which provides helpful strategies and tips for union-busting. Last week, Walmart settled a long-running battle with labour activists over the punishment of workers who claimed they were mistreated by managers for supporting efforts to organise by wearing union insigniaImage by Jeff Haynes/ Reuters
Walmart introduced a batch of new employees at 50 stores recently, but they're not there to flash you a smile. These 6 feet tall, autonomous robots (made by Bossa Nova) continuously go up and down the aisles, scanning for out-of-stock items, items put in the wrong place by customers, incorrect prices and wrong or missing labels. They alert human employees of errors it sees, thus automating a task employees say they don't like. A company spokesperson emphasised that the robots won’t replace peopleImage by Courtesy Walmart
Walmart loses about $3 billion a year from shoplifting, and have a ‘restorative justice’ programme that avoids calling the police. People deemed low-risk, first-time offenders are given the choice of paying to take an anti-shoplifting course rather than facing arrest and prosecution. The effort - rolled out in 1500 stores - is in its early days, but the company has seen a 35% reduction in calls to law enforcement nationwide, according to The Motley Fool. The retailer does not disclose what the programme fee isImage by Courtesy: Walmart
Since Sam Walton's death in 1992, Walmart's charitable giving has increased and now approach US$1 billion each year. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Walmart spearheaded the relief effort, getting 100,000 meals, 100 truckloads of supplies, $20 million in cash donations and promise of jobs for every displaced worker with a speed that outmatched even the government. A logistical feat that earned appreciation from many quarters that had long maligned it as a junky department storeImage by Courtesy Walmart
Each week nearly one-third of the US population visits Walmart’s U.S. stores. The company tracks shoppers' purchases across Walmart.com and its more than 4,700 US stores. In a recent analysis, Walmart revealed 2017’s hottest-selling items in every state in the US. Here are a few: New York: Cheerios, New Hampshire: Cinnamon-flavored toothpaste, Connecticut: Ghost in the Shell DVD, Maryland: Glue sticks, Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers bath mat, Washington, D.C.: Great Value French Fried OnionsImage by Courtesy Jay, Barry &Chuck’s OM blog
The Black Friday shopping phenomenon - the day following Thanksgiving Day in the US which falls on the fourth thursday of November - sees shoppers turn into raging hordes, baffling social scientists. For many years, retailers opened early with mega promotions at 6am Friday, with mega promotions until they began pushing it back. It was taken to a new extreme when retailers began opening on the midnight of Thursday, or remaining open overnight on Thursday, a holiday. It’s common for shoppers to camp out in a line in front of stores before the opening hours, and the store openings have seen small stampedes and injuries but the shoppers can’t have enough of it, it seemsImage by Joshua Lott/Getty Images
The company’s retail experiment called Walmart Express failed miserably. Launched in 2011, Walmart Express were small-sized stores carrying general merchandise like toilet paper, toys, and a small food selection. Many shoppers felt that the merchandise selection wasn’t quite right (it stocked multiple brands of the same items, for example). Also, the fact that they were usually located within 10 miles of a Supercenter spelled doom for Walmart Express. All 102 locations were shut down in 2016Image by John Gress/Reuters
In November 2006, Walmart launched its wholesale cash-and-carry business in India in a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises. As foreign corporations were not allowed to enter the retail sector directly, Walmart operated through franchises and handled the wholesale end of the business. The first store opened in Amritsar in 2009 under the name Best Price Modern Wholesale. In November 2012, Walmart admitted to spending $25 million lobbying which is conventionally considered bribery in India. In October 2013, Bharti and Walmart separated to pursue business independently. A day after announcing $16 billion investment in India's largest online retailer Flipkart, Walmart Inc said it will continue to grow its wholesale cash-and-carry business, adding 50 new stores to its existing 21 stores in the next four or five yearsImage by Ajay Verma/Reuters
With a 2018 net worth of $46 billion according to Forbes, the founder’s daughter Alice Walton is the wealthiest woman in the world. A Trinity grad, the heiress spends her fortune collecting art and breeding horses. In his 1992 autobiography ‘Made in America’, Sam Walton remarked that Alice was ‘the most like me - a maverick - but even more volatile than I am’. She spearheads the Walton Family Foundation's involvement in developing Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. ‘One of the great responsibilities that I have is to manage my assets wisely, so that they create value,’ she told New Yorker in a 2011 interview. ‘I know the price of lettuce. You need to understand price and value. You buy the best lettuce you can at the best price you can’Image by Jacob Slaton/Reuters
Walmart has built a Tinder for grocery shopping. It filed a patent in Jan 2018 for ‘Fresh Online Experience’, that allows an online shopper to view the actual 3D images of their groceries in real time, and accept or reject it before paying for it online. This service could solve one of customers' biggest gripes about online grocery shopping: that they don't get to select their produce and could therefore end up with bruised or discolored items that they wouldn't have chosen, had they visited the store Image by Courtesy Walmart
