Walmart Rhetorical Analysis

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How to Defeat Wal-Mart In a study conducted by Dartmouth Universities School of Business, 90 businesses over a two-year span all had drastic changes in sales when a new Wal-Mart retail store entered their respective communities. During this study "supermarkets suffered sales declines of 17%, while mass merchandisers saw sales fall 40%, and drug stores saw a 6% decline in sales.” Although the study didn’t go into how the businesses fared after the two years and whether they’re closing their doors, or trying to stave off the retail giant with advanced marketing tactics. Professor of Marketing at Dartmouth Kusum Ailawadi states that when competing against Wal-Mart "it's no use to blindly cut prices,” and she is correct however many more techniques…show more content…
Since local businesses are so small, they have the advantage of being able to communicate with customers closer and more in depth about the store than Wal-Mart greeters who only say "hello" and "have a nice day"; not about anything such as the well-being of the community and what customers like about the small business and what needs changing. In the same article by Marco Terry, he makes a great point in "Remember what you actually sell", and uses the apple store as an example. Not only does the Apple store have a great product but they also have great customer service to pride themselves on. If small businesses can cash in on quality customer service, they stand a much better chance of doing better business in the wake of a Wal-Mart arrival. In another article, 10 Ways To Beat Wal-Mart, the author Chad Brooks makes a point of small businesses taking advantage of the ability to maintain top notch customer service due to the intimate nature of a small business. Brooks leaves off with, "In a small business…every customer can be treated as a VIP." If mom and pop stores can remember this, they are more likely to…show more content…
While Wal-Mart's methods are under scrutiny for the seeming forceful nature, but in reality they just have the power to push suppliers around and pressure small businesses to the brink. The retailer is brutally honest and straight forward about what they need and what they can get in their business ventures. Wal-Mart creates low prices by the threat of outsourcing and pitting suppliers against each other. If a supplier wants to change the terms of their agreement with Wal-Mart, they will simply be shoved aside and replaced by someone who will do what Wal-Mart wants. In order for small businesses to really gain an edge they have to diversify their products and exploit local suppliers, cash in on the advantage of a better enhanced customer experience, and with interaction within the nearby communities. Works Cited 1.Flandez, Raymund. "What You Can Do to Fight Wal-Mart." The Wall Street Journal (2009): N. pag. Web. http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2009/03/20/what-you-can-do-to-fight-wal-mart/ 2.Brooks, Chad. "10 Ways You Can Beat Wal-Mart." Business News Daily (2011): N. pag. Web. <http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/879-walmart-small-stores.html>. 3. Lynch, Keriann. "The Sweet Taste of Success." Business News Daily (2007): N. pag. Web. <http://flatheadbeacon.com/2007/09/29/the-sweet-taste-of-success/>. 4. Terry, Marco. "How to Beat Walmart

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