America Goes Hybrid
Today, the most convincing business case for asserting that America has gone hybrid involves cars and the way folks drive.
The Wall Street Journal
It all started when the consumer and the need to grow drove retailers to go hybrid - with both brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce.?
Walmart and Target: (Since 2014, American businessman?Brian Cornell?has served as?Target's?CEO. He is?responsible for overseeing?the "dynamic global team behind Target," according to his?biography. While Cornell might be the company's CEO, he is not the owner. Target is actually owned by its parent Dayton Hudson Corp.). While both Walmart and Target have made mistakes in scaling globally, they have improvised, adjusted and overcome.
Walmart:
WSJ: Walmart: Sales in July were stronger than economists had expected, at checkout, rising 1 percent from the previous month. The increase outpaced inflation over that period, reinforcing the notion that consumers remain resilient, if more selective about what they are buying.
At Walmart, transactions during the quarter were up 3.6 per-cent, while the average amount spent per visit showed a slight increase, of 0.6 percent. That combination has been relatively rare for retailers recently: Many have seen cost-conscious shoppers visit less or spend less per trip, or both.
Notably, the company raised its full-year forecast for sales and profits, a signal of its optimism about attracting more shoppers. It said it gained market share with consumers across income brackets, with the richest households once again "primarily" driving those gains.
Walmart has said that, while it still emphasizes low prices on its wide variety of products, the company also has been investing in technology to upgrade its supply chain and e-commerce abilities with the goal of making it easier and quicker for its customers to shop.
"They want value," Doug McMillon, Walmart's chief executive, said Thursday on a call with analysts. "They want a broad assortment of items and services. They want a convenient and enjoyable experience buying them. "Sales throughout the quarter were "fairly consistent," he said. "So far we aren't experiencing a weaker consumer overall," Mr. McMillon added.
For one in three online orders, customers pay extra for delivery under three hours. "If the consumer was so stressed, I don’t think we'd see that behavior," John Rainey, Walmart's chief financial officer, said in an interview.?
My Comment: Logistics have become critical to the hybrid retail economy.
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The Flaw in their Globalization
FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) violations - Walmart de Mexico- $100 million spent in investigating real estate related violations in 27 countries including Mexico, Brazil and India.?
Target: Success and Flawed Marketing
Quora: Many people mistakenly think Target is a French company due to a few factors:
Despite these misconceptions, (including my own), Target is indeed an American company, founded in 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a discount store and has since evolved into a major retail chain.
Target is known for a lot of things, including its annual?Pride?collection, but in 2023, the retail giant faced backlash and was forced to?pull products from the shelves.
My Comment: My point is that flexibility is what redefines the role of leadership and management today. The fault is not with globalization. The flaw is in how globalization has been led and managed.
Do you think out of the pond?
Continued with Back to Cars -? A Plethora of EVs
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