Walmart Company Sales Plan
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Walmart Company Sales Plan
Introduction
Sales planning is a key function in the procedure of any sales management process. It is an effective method in promoting a company’s products, and it involves sales forecasting, demand management, setting profit-oriented sales target goals, and written steps towards executing sales activities (Nabil et al., 2018). Ideally, an efficient sales plan enables a business to organize its mandatory activities to achieve its goals. Besides, a sales plan contains a document that identifies business targets and relevant resources. As one of the largest multi-faceted companies in terms of revenue, Walmart requires effective sales plan to ensure its expansion and maintain relevance in the increasingly diverse and competitive market.
Sales Goals
Walmart should consider the measurable goals that coalesce around the concept of refactoring their stores and distribution centers to meet the needs of the increasingly competitive market and maintain relevance in the market.
To reduce customer churn rate.
The emergence of e-commerce has led to reduced customer access to physical stores. Consequently, the customer churn rate has increased by approximately 2% in the past three years. Customers can access any products they desire online. In that sense, sales activities in traditional stores have significantly reduced. However, reducing the churn rate would revitalize its physical store activities (Harsoor and Patil, 2015). The company aims at reaching out to 200 customers weekly to convince them to access the stores for high-quality products. Besides, the company intends to reach out to 1,200 customers within six months. Evidently, online sales activities significantly impact customer access to physical stores and, subsequently, reduced sales activities.
To increase annual revenue.
Revenue is essential in the continuation of business activities. The highly competitive market has resulted in reduced revenue collection among multiple companies. However, Walmart Stores aims at increasing the revenue by $1 million per week to raise the average annual revenue by $62 million at the end of 2021. To achieve the desired revenue collection standards, the company will increase sales by having weekly booked meetings and daily phone calls to customers. As a result, the company will ensure continued market operations.
To increase customer, spend by building a nurture program.
Building a nurture program facilitates customer retention. Walmart stores deal in various products such as electronics, toys, furniture, clothing, and many more. There is a need for increased purchasing activities for these products. However, realizing maximum profits could be impossible if there is reduced customer spending. Effective nurturing programs can facilitate the ability to spend among the customers. These programs can be implemented by increasing the amount of time sales representatives contact new customers and check product satisfaction. Consequently, there will be reduced time spent by customers on prospecting leading to increased sales. Evidently, nurturing customers remains a top goal for Walmart to maintain effective sales and maximize profits.
To gain and retain customers.
The process of gaining and retaining customers increase sales. Arguably, the market has become diverse and competitive, prompting efficient techniques by companies to maintain relevance. For example, developments in technology have revolutionized business activities. Customers have a variety of stores and products to choose from. As a result, gaining and retaining customers would be necessary for Walmart Stores to continue its operations undeterred (Collins et al., 2018). Therefore, to increase its sales, Walmart Stores endeavor to acquire a maximum market base.
Sales Strategies
Targeting
Targeting as a sales strategy involves segmenting a market into smaller units, thus, concentrating on a specific group of customers within an audience. Usually, the customers become identified by their unique characteristics. The service provider then solely focuses on serving them. Walmart Stores aims to segment the market in terms of demographics such as age, gender, and marital status; psychographics such as values and beliefs; and behavioral segmentation that focuses on the purchasing power and spending habits of customers and brand interaction among the customers. Targeting is a holistic sales strategy that will enable Walmart Stores to market its brand and increase its operations.
Pricing
Pricing takes into account market segments, competitor actions, and market conditions. While there are multiple pricing strategies such as premium pricing, penetration pricing, and economy pricing, Walmart intends to use Everyday Low Price (EDLP) pricing strategy to attract a wide customer base and achieve significant sales volume. Typically, utilizing EDLP enables the company to increase sales and attain a competitive advantage, thereby facilitating its operations and maintaining market relevance. Therefore, taking into account the market segments, competitor actions, and market conditions ensures the company’s proper pricing strategy to attract customers and increase its sales volume.
Sales Tactics
Online Advertising
The continued adoption of e-commerce leads to increased online marketing tactics to promote sales activities. Advertising remains effective in product promotion. However, using social media to find market leads is an essential step towards accessing a broader market base and gaining access to new customers. Today, 90% of the populace has access to mobile phones and the internet. On the other hand, social media platforms’ development has ensured increased social and economic interactions, regardless of geographical locations. In that sense, Walmart Stores utilizes social media platforms to advertise its products. Products such as furniture and clothing are in high demand online. Therefore, incorporating online advertising provides an opportunity for the company to access more customers and increase its sales volume.
Price Incentives
Providing price incentives increases sales. A price incentive is a sales technique involving price reduction of products to encourage customers to buy them. For example, a 2% price slash on a commodity would motivate customers to buy the company’s products. The utilization of Walmart’s price incentive tactic will potentially attract more customers and subsequently increase its sales volume. With increased competition in the market, there is a need to lower prices to maintain market relevance.
Methods for Staff Motivation
Employee Empowerment
Employee empowerment remains key to any business’ performance. Walmart Stores incorporates employee empowerment to build a healthy relationship between the customers, employees, and the business. For example, the human resource (HR) department ensures the employees are empowered by organizing training activities to improve their outputs. On the other hand, introducing a suite of custom-built apps helps the employee manage a variety of routine activities directly from a mobile store app. As a result, more time is preserved for handling other essential duties. Typically, the custom-built apps facilitate tasks ranging from when a product arrives in the backroom to the time a customer finds it on the shelf. Therefore, organizing extra training activities and incorporating custom-built apps are essential practices that Walmart uses to empower its employees and increase sales volume.
Rewarding employees
Engaged employees require incentives to reward their efforts. Generally, there comes a time when a pat on the back will not be enough to motivate a dedicated employee. However, it does not necessarily have to be monetary rewards. Rewarding employees could also be part of employee benefits. Walmart company aims at handing out another round of cash bonuses, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Typically, there is increased output among motivated employees.
Evaluation Plan
Formative Evaluation
The formative evaluation of Walmart Stores will relate to the effectiveness of staff motivation and sales strategies. This method involves interviews among the employees and customers to determine issues and needs.
Evaluation Questions
- Does employee empowerment through cash bonuses improve their performances?
- What would be an alternative effective motivation method besides training and cash rewards?
- How effective is the use of social media in sales activities?
- Does offering incentives help gain and maintain customers?
An Integrated Marketing Plan
Cheaper Price!!!! Cheaper Price!!!! Cheaper Price!!!!
Walmart’s robust success can be attributed to its efficient strategic planning and business structure. It uses the integrated marketing communication methodology to develop business strategies and build a sustainable relationship with the stakeholders. Walmart is one of the few companies which have fully implemented the integrated marketing communication framework successfully. Since it operates in many countries, we need to analyze the market and customers’ needs for a smooth start in any country.
Evidently, the company’s integrated marketing communication plan shows the intention to sell its products at the cheapest and affordable rates. Consequently, the tagline mentioned above would attract more customers to Walmart’s retail shops. Besides, the tagline remains impactful on the customers and is likely to promote the company’s business activities.
Conclusion
An effective sales plan is integral for Walmart Stores to effectively compete in an increasingly diverse and competitive market. As one of the world’s largest companies in terms of revenue, formulating measurable goals, efficient sales strategies, and motivating, the employees form part of an effective sales plan. Besides, the continued incorporation of an integrated marketing communication plan has significantly helped the company realize immeasurable success worldwide. Therefore, the sales strategy adopted by Walmart sets precedence for more efficient strategies by other companies in the future.
References
Nabil, L., El Barkany, A., & El Khalfi, A. (2018). Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) Concepts and Models under Constraints: Literature Review. In International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa (Vol. 34, pp. 171-188). Trans Tech Publications Ltd. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abdellah_El_Barkany/publication/322647033_Sales_and_Operations_Planning_SOP_Concepts_and_Models_under_Constraints_Literature_Review/links/5aabf496aca2721710f89cac/Sales-and-Operations-Planning-S-OP-Concepts-and-Models-under-Constraints-Literature-Review.pdf
Collis, D. A. V. I. D., Wu, A., Koning, R., & Sun, H. C. (2018). Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon. com. Harv. Bus. Sch. Publ, 30. https://apaxresearchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/WalmarttakesonAmazon.pdf
Harsoor, A. S., & Patil, A. (2015). Forecast of sales of Walmart store using big data applications. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, 4(6), 51-59. http://www.academia.edu/download/41933645/FORECAST_OF_SALES_OF_WALMART_STORE_USING_BIG_DATA_APPLICATIONS.pdf