Walmart Company is one of the companies that have embraced supply chain technology to reduce the chain to ensure more efficiency. In essence, the supply chain is a line of distribution that allows products to move from the manufacturer to the consumer through the retailers. In essence, most companies have been unable to cope with changes in the market to ensure they are competitive in supplying merchandise ( Coyle et al., 2017 ). There is a need to consider that with changes in technology and the market's needs, the companies must ensure supply chain innovations. Walmart has made various innovations that have placed it in the top-performing companies globally.
Essentially, Walmart Company is an American multilateral company that operates as a retail corporation with hypermarkets and chains of grocery stores. The company is the largest employer globally, with a total of 2.2 million workers. Additionally, the company has 11443 stores in 26 countries, most of which have different operation names ( Nguyen, 2017 ). Essentially, with the advent of covid 19, most companies have struggled since 2020 to improve their delivery. Due to changes in the market due to this issue and economic recession, companies are struggling to find alternative ways to reach the consumer without necessarily going through retailers and brokers.
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One of the techniques used by Walmart was the merging of technology teams in Silicon Valley. This merger was meant to ensure that the company speeds up collaboration with companies to ensure elimination of duplication of its services and products ( Nguyen, 2017 ). Collaboration was necessary to help close company loopholes and focus on supply chain innovation ( Coyle et al., 2017 ). Essentially, this move helped ensure that all companies in the supply chain synchronized all sales through collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment system.
This system is crucial as it ensures that every chain uses a centralized database system. There are other systems such as the store-level point of sale and satellite( Nguyen, 2017 ). Through the digitization of the supply chain, these facts mean that the company organized all its data and made it available for the allied companies. Through such an innovation, the company can collect information about consumers, what they buy most and what seasons determine the sale or decline of sales for various products.
Data analytics is an integral part of the company's strategies. For instance, by analyzing important information such as what products consumers search most on the internet, the company may be able to learn what suggestions to give to shoppers through pop-up messaging. The company has a shopping phone application that helps ensure that time and money is saved for the company and the consumers. Significantly, the application is part of the digitization of the supply chain, which has helped bring the customer a step closer to Walmart Company ( Nguyen, 2017 ). For instance, instead of acquiring the products such as furniture through retailer companies, the clients are allowed to make orders from the application directly. The payment is made digitally through the application, and the customer makes the decision on where the products should be delivered. The company utilizes data analytics by analyzing the buying patterns of the application users and lining up products that they are likely to like to improve the particular consumer's buying trend. This fact indicates that the company deals directly with the consumer and has established a personal relationship by being aware of the consumer's specific needs.
Additionally, the company has ensured the improvement of customer experience. In its physical locations, the workers are given smart handheld devices to ensure a seamless response to clients. These devices help in responding to inventory queries made by customers in the stores ( Nguyen, 2017 ). This information indicates that the innovations of the company are focused on the provision of information.
The supply chain technology of Walmart is novel as it ensures that there is the availability of data. Most companies are afraid of sharing information with other companies for fear of losing competitive advantage. Collaboration through the use of a centralized data system focuses all efforts by the different retailer companies on service provision to ensure a more organized approach and teamwork. Additionally, Walmart shopping and grocery ensures that there is accountability and avoidance of losses by providing e-receipts to consumers ( Nguyen, 2017 ). In essence, the app is significant as it makes it easy for the company to manage the supply chain one point. It is important to note that by delivering what the customer likes and refunds where the client is not satisfied; the company has won its consumers' trust. The trust is essential in encouraging the customers to shop directly from the retailer corporation rather than from intermediaries.
In conclusion, Walmart's investment in e-commerce indicates instances of the use of technology to reduce the supply chain. Digitization of the supply chain through the use of applications such as the Walmart shopping and groceries app is the key to fostering direct contact with the consumer. The company has made use of data analytics to understand the needs of clients.
References
Coyle, J. J., Langley, C. J., Novack, R. A., & Gibson, B. (2017). Supply chain management: a logistics perspective . Nelson Education.
Nguyen, T. T. H. (2017). Wal-Mart’s successfully integrated supply chain and the necessity of establishing the Triple-A supply chain in the 21st century. Journal of Economics & Management , 29 , 102-117.
