Walmart's Customer Retention Strategy

By Hannah Ash, contributing writer

Chief Operating Officer of Walmart U.S. isn’t resting on the world’s leading retailer’s past accomplishments or current stature; Gisel Ruiz wants more. On May 22, 2014, Ruiz spoke at the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce Wall Street Breakfast, easily drawing the largest attended crowd. Having learned her business and customer service philosophy from her immigrant parents, Ruiz told the gathered crowd, ““It’s not enough to have what customers want today, we have to try and anticipate what they are going to want tomorrow and the day after that.”

What do customers want today? What do they want tomorrow? It may be an age-old question in retail but it's one worth asking, especially for the world’s largest retailer. Ruiz compared the demand to historic customers asking for ‘faster horses’ and Ford’s invention of the car, saying that Ford anticipated demand and designed a winner. Swimming upstream has long been one of founder Sam Walton’s guiding principles, and Ruiz sited it as one of the ways Walmart constantly meets with success amid retail’s constantly changing atmosphere.

What is one key way through which Walmart is meeting customer demand? Not just low costs, as Belus Capital Advisors analyst Brian Sozzi states, "they're lowering prices and they're still not getting the traffic.” Clearly, low prices aren’t all that customers are demanding. Right now, it’s downsizing its stores and bringing them closer to where customers live and work. Walmart Neighborhoods and Walmart Express both offer groceries while also functioning as fulfillment centers, with Ruiz stating customers also see these formats as, “pick-up depot for the endless aisles of products they can choose from at Walmart.com.” As Walmart earnings reports decline, putting the focus back on meeting customer demands is a wise strategy.