Internationalization of Walmart: Strategies, Analysis, and Challenges

This report provides an analysis of Walmart's internationalization strategies, focusing on its expansion into Asian markets, including China, Japan, and India. It examines the various strategies employed by Walmart, such as joint ventures and majority-owned subsidiaries, and how these strategies have been adapted to different countries. The report highlights the successes and challenges faced by Walmart in these markets, including cultural misunderstandings and competition. It also discusses the impact of these factors on Walmart's overall global performance. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and offering insights into the future of Walmart's international operations. References from various academic sources are included to support the analysis.

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF WALMART

INTRODUCTION
Internationalization is considered to be a
process related to planning and
implementation of various services and
products so that they are can be adapted to
the local languages and the cultures. This
process can also be termed as localization.
Internationalization based process is also
termed as the translation or the enablement of
localization as well. Internationalization is also
a process of increase in involvement of the
various enterprises in the international
markets (Anand 2015).

INTRODUCTION CONTINUED …
Different international theories have also
tried to explain the international activities
that are performed by the organizations.
The organizations that aim at expanding
their operations on a global basis have to
implement different theories and strategies
with respect to the needs and demands in
new areas or markets (Chatterji 2017).

Analysis of the global supermarket organization named Walmart
Walmart Inc. is a multinational retail based
organization of American origin that mainly
operates large chains of discount department
stores, grocery stores and chain of hypermarkets
as well. Headquarter of Walmart is located in
Bentonville, Arkansas and was established by Sam
Walton in the year 1962. The organization had
been incorporated in the year 1969 and Walmart
currently owns the Sam’s Club retail warehouses.
Walmart had been able to develop more than
11,000 stores and clubs in around 27 countries of
the world (Corporate.walmart.com 2019).

Analysis of the global supermarket organization named
Walmart continued ……
Walmart is also the biggest private employer
in the world with more than 2 Million
employees in the world. Walmart had started
its global operations in different parts of the
world with the help of effective
internationalization strategies. Currently
Walmart is operating more than 6000 stores in
different countries of the world including Asia.
The major countries in Asia in which Walmart
has started its operations include China, Japan
and India (Corporate.walmart.com 2019).

Analysis of the global supermarket organization named
Walmart continued ……
The company has been quite successful in
increasing its international presence with the
help of operations that have been developed in
different countries of the world. However, the
internationalization and market entry strategies
that have been implemented by Walmart in
various countries are quite different. The market
entry strategies have been implemented with
respect to the needs of the customers in the
selected countries. The internationalization
strategies of Walmart are thereby quite different
in China, India and Japan (Chatterji 2017).

Internationalization strategy used by Walmart
Walmart has developed joint ventures in China and
also operates many majority-owned subsidiaries as
well. Within the year 2019 Walmart China have
started the operation 431 stores with the name of
Walmart Supercenter, Sam’s Club and the
Neighborhood Market banners. The company had
also been able to increase its stakes in the Chinese
online supermarket based industry in the year 2012
in order to tap the increase in wealth of the
consumers in the country. The company has also
started offering more products to the consumers
with the aim of proper enhancement of the
consumer base (dela Rama and Rowley 2017)..

Internationalization strategy used by
Walmart continued …
Walmart operates in Japan with the name of Seiyu
and within the year 2019 the organization has
been successful in developing 331 stores in
different parts of the country. The different types
of stores that are operated by Walmart in the
country include Hypermarket, General
merchandise, Supermarket, Livin and Sunny
banners. Walmart had announced a joint venture
with Bharti Enterprises in the year 2006 in order
to start its operations in India. The foreign
corporations were not allowed to start their
operations in India (Corporate.walmart.com 2019).

Internationalization strategy used by
Walmart continued …
The market entry strategy that is implemented
by an organization is the most important part of
the internationalization process. The strategies
for international market entry have been chosen
by Amazon with respect to the needs of the
market and the consumers as well. Walmart has
been operating in different parts of the world
with the help of its private brands. Each of the
markets and countries are treated by Walmart
in a different manner and the strategies that are
formed for the markets are also quite different
in nature (dela Rama and Rowley 2017).

Analysis of the strategies implemented by Walmart
Walmart has been moderately successful in
its operations in China and the organization
has recently implemented changes in its
online strategy as well. The online business
platform named Yihaodian has been sold to
Alibaba. The physical outlets that had been
developed by Walmart in China had been
underperforming since the last few years.
The company has also struggled to
maintain the sales on its online platform in
the country (Eryılmaz 2017).

Analysis of the strategies implemented by
Walmart continued ….
Walmart had entered the retail industry of
Japan in the year 1999 with the help of joint
venture that has been formed with a struggling
retailer of the country Seiyu. The firm had
been operating around 400 units in the country
and the joint venture developed with Walmart
had provided major growth opportunities to the
organization as well. The structure of Seiyu
had been reorganized in the process and the
company had been able to start the joint
operations with Walmart as well (dela Rama
and Rowley 2017).

Challenges and problems faced by Walmart in Asian
market
China has been proving to be a large market for the
various global organizations that have been
entering the country in the last few years. The
country has also led the world in the infrastructure
investment sector with the support that is provided
by its large population and increase in levels of
consumer wealth as well.
Cultural misunderstanding has also been
considered as a major reason behind the lack of
revenues of Walmart in Japan. The organization has
not been successful in grasping the retail and
consumer environment in the country
(Corporate.walmart.com 2019).

Conclusion
The presentation can be concluded by
stating that although Walmart has been a
highly successful organization in different
parts of the world, the organization has not
been successful in the proper development
of its position in Asia. The cultural
differences and lack of understanding of
the local markets have led to the lack of
proper growth of the firm in the three major
Asian countries China, Japan and India.

References
Anand, B., 2015. Reverse globalization by internationalization
of SME's: Opportunities and challenges ahead. Procedia-social
and Behavioral sciences, 195, pp.1003-1011.
Chatterji, M., 2017. Economic globalization in Asia. Routledge.
Corporate.walmart.com 2019. Homepage. [online] Corporate -
US. Available at: https://corporate.walmart.com/ [Accessed 20
Sep. 2019].
dela Rama, M. and Rowley, C., 2017. The changing face of
corruption in the Asia-Pacific Region: Its discontents, current
perspectives, and future challenges. In The Changing Face of
Corruption in the Asia Pacific (pp. 1-20). Elsevier.
Eryılmaz, M., 2017. Alternative Strategies for Global Operations
of Organizations. In Global Business Strategies in Crisis (pp. 77-
88). Springer, Cham.