Assignment
Much of Walmart's domestic growth over the past decade came from market share gainsin the grocery business. Walmart's grocery sales growth began to slow about four yearsago only to be boosted in 2018 by curbside pick-up at Walmart stores. As recently as 2012, management believed the company's future growth prospects lay in internationalmarkets. That year, Walmart allocated 39% of its capital expenditure budget to expansionin international markets. By the end of 2017, the company had pulled back itsinvestments so that international markets only accounted for about 26% of total capitalexpenditures. Walmart has refocused its efforts on developing a so-called "omni-channel" business and now seems to be signaling that its growth will likely come mainlyfrom e-commerce rather than brick and mortar stores. Building e-Commerce capabilities captured 45% of the company's capital budget in 2017. As noted above, the company spent $3.3B on the acquisition of Jet in 2016 (not included in cap. expenditures). Similarly, Walmart announced in May 2018 it wouldpay $16B for 77% of Flipkart - the leading e-commerce retailer in India. For the full year 2018, Walmart allocated over 50% of its $10.4B capital expenditures to e-commerce.The company recently remodeled a superstore in New Hampshire, adding 20,000 sq. ft.of space in order to be able to use robots for order fulfillment and add drive-through lanesfor order pickups. Taking aim squarely at Amazon, Walmart also began offering free two-day shipping on "millions of items" without a membership fee. In this way, managementhopes to blend e-Commerce and brick and mortar shopping so as to cover 100% of consumer shopping needs.
1. In light of the company's emphasis on "omni-channel" retailing, how willWalmart's value propositions to customers need to change (if at all)? How willWalmart's profit models need to change (if at all)?
2. In your team's view, will Walmart be able to gain a competitive advantage in e-Commerce? What sources of competitive advantage (if any) does Walmart have that will help it catch up to Amazon? Use strategy concepts to support yourposition, as well as facts about Walmart, Amazon, Jet, and FlipKart.Limit your answer to no more than 500 words.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.