Professional Documents
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FACULTAD DE INGENIERÍA
INGENIERÍA INDUSTRIAL
CURSO:
TRABAJO:
CASO WALMART
PROFESOR:
SALAS SCHWARZ, JORGE ALFREDO
SECCIÓN:
IVA2
2.4. (Advanced) The article highlights a company that is pursuing supply chain
expertise. 9
2.4.2. Who manages the transactions and logistics in your supply chain? 9
2.4.3. What are the advantages and disadvantages for outsourcing this
competency? 10
2.5. (Advanced) The article implies the importance of Supply Chain Management
and Operations Management in maintaining the competitiveness of a
company. 10
In its latest bid to take on Internet powerhouse Amazon.com Inc. this holiday season,
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is promising same-day delivery in some cities for orders placed
online.
Wal-Mart, aiming to take on Amazon, is offering same-day delivery. The retailer began testing the new service in
select cities last week and says it will cost $10 regardless of the size of the order. (Photo: Getty Images)
Called Wal-Mart To Go, the service costs $10 regardless of the size of the order. The
products will be shipped from the company's stores, not from a warehouse or
distribution center. Wal-Mart began testing the same-day service last week in
Philadelphia and northern Virginia.
It added Minneapolis on Tuesday and will add San Jose and San Francisco later this
month. The trial will last through the holidays.
Over the past several years, Wal-Mart has launched several attacks on its online
rival, including a price war over best-selling books three years ago.
This time, Wal-Mart is betting that its network of thousands of stores, combined with
an improved online presence and strong financials, can help it compete head to head
with Amazon, which has increasingly stressed fast, free or low-cost deliveries.
Amazon launched same-day shipping in 10 cities in 2009.
But shipping from stores, rather than from warehouses as Amazon does, is
expensive, analysts said.
"It can be three to four times the cost for the retailer to pick items and pack them from
a store versus having a really efficient, automated process back in a distribution
center," said Al Sambar, a retail strategist at consulting firm Kurt Salmon.
Wal-Mart doesn't disclose its online sales, but the trade publication Internet Retailer
estimates they were $4.9 billion, or about 1% of the company's total revenue last
year, compared with Amazon.com's $34 billion in online sales.
Wal-Mart has been ramping up its e-commerce business, which employs 1,000
workers in San Bruno, Calif., down the street from YouTube's offices and far removed
from the retailer's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
The retail giant has acquired nearly a dozen start-ups to help broaden its online
presence and developed @Walmart Labs, its Silicon Valley tech shop that has
revamped the walmart.com website and mobile applications to make them more
competitive with Amazon and other online retailers.
Wal-Mart also has been trying to compete with Amazon's prices inside its stores. In
some, it has quietly begun matching the online retailer's prices when customers ask,
a practice historically done only against local brick-and-mortar competitors.
"I can't imagine Wal-Mart makes a profit on this, but it does keep me in the store
buying from them rather than Amazon," he said.
Wal-Mart's corporate policy states it doesn't match competitors' Internet prices. But
analysts say executives are weighing plans to change that.
A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment on future policy, but said, "It's possible
that an individual store may honor the price of an item online if a customer asks."
Reuters
Wal-Mart also has been trying to use its stores to tap into millions of shoppers who
either don't have credit or debit cards or don't feel comfortable disclosing their
personal financial information online.
In April, the retailer began a program that allows customers to order merchandise
online and pay for it at a store with cash. Shoppers can pick up the items at a store or
have them delivered.
Nearly half of Wal-Mart's online sales now come from purchases customers make
online and pick up at a store, said Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala.
"We have a unique advantage because we have the national footprint of stores
combined with our online site that enable programs like site to store, pay with cash or
pick up today," he said. A spokeswoman for Amazon declined to comment on
Wal-Mart.
Instead of shipping goods from its distribution centers, Wal-Mart will pluck products
from its network of stores in the four areas of the test program. The retailer wouldn't
provide details on who would be picking and packing the products.
United Parcel Service Inc. will pick up the goods and deliver them to customers, who
have until noon to place orders and can choose a four-hour window in the evening to
receive deliveries.
Only about 5,000 items, such as televisions and toys, will be available for same-day
shipping; the service doesn't apply to the millions of products available on
Walmart.com.
It also doesn't cover grocery and produce items, except in California where Wal-Mart
has been testing a grocery delivery service for the past couple of years and the
program fees and order deadlines vary.
WALMART AMAZON’S
2.4.3. What are the advantages and disadvantages for outsourcing this
competency?
Por otro lado, entre las desventajas está que puede existir la
carencia de una buena comunicación entre ambas
organizaciones, pues no es una desventaja que siempre
ocurrirá, pero se debe tomar en cuenta. Del mismo modo, al no
dedicarte en el proceso logístico en sí es un riesgo de
dependencia, ya que en caso de una falencia, los productos no
podrán llegar, por ello siempre es importante una comunicación,
términos consistentes y contratos bien establecidos ante
cualquier riesgo que pueda ocurrir.