Strategic Audit of Wal-Mart and Kmart Case Study

Strategic Audit of Wal-Mart and Kmart - grammatical case Study ExampleIt was started in the year 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, by Sam Walton. It took a long modal value to reach an annual gross sales turnover of $1 billion. By the year 2002, Wal-Mart became the worlds largest retail giant with sales of $218 billions.In the initial days of starting the business, Wal-Mart designed a strategy to build large synthesis hold ons in rural areas. Wal-Mart employed the strategy of selling branded products at a very woeful price. Initially, the management of the faithful decided to develop the firm as a one-stop rabbeted departmental chain store with a vast variety of general merchandise goods to be offered to the customers that too at a funky price. The managements initial focalise was on its purchase decisions. The firm revolve arounded on exploring each and every luck that helped in general merchandise goods. The two important products of the entire Wal-Mart product line on which the firm laid a strong emphasis were health products and beauty products.The stores used to maintain a eminent stock of these products. When the firma became successful in opening more than 279 stores by the abolish of the year 1979, the next focus was on designing strategies for expanding the firm aggressively. In contrast, to the other retail stores who built ware houses in come prohibited to serve the already existing outlets, Wal-Mart used to first build distribution centers and later started stores around the distribution centers. This strategy of Wal-Mart helped the firm in pooling the advertising and distribution overheads. The firm as well as focused on the point time needed for a customer to reach the outlet. The strategy of aggressive expansion turned out to be a big success because Wal-Mart became the largest retailer and discount stores in United States by the leftover of the year 1991 which had almost 1,573 Wal-Mart outlets in 35 states. Once the firm attained the p osition of national discount department store chain, it designed its outlets in such a way that they provided a one-stop-shopping to its customers. The outlets were designed to earn 40 different departments like apparel, health products, beauty products, toys etc. Wal-Mart was strict on not spend huge amount on special promotions and advertising strategies etc. It rather operated its outlets on a ideal of everyday low prices. It was a belief in every customer that the Wal-Mart stores would provide them with a friendly, clean and jerk and a very pleasant experience every time they shop.The year 2001 was a real repugn era not only to the retail industry but also for many other industries. The resolve for this being like a year that ended with a worst holiday season i.e end of 2000, energy crisis, the rise in the unemployment factor, the spending of the consumers became sluggish and last but not least - terrorist blasts of the WTO on September11, 2001. Though the firm became succe ssful in almost every strategy designed, it did not neglect to focus on the external market environment at the same time. The firm strongly believed that their business in the forthcoming year would definitely be affected by the external market environment. The external factors would also influence the financial figures in the firms balance