Describe porters five forces with respect to Walmart low medium high and why list Walmarts order winner delight and a swot diagram no more than three for each section. Consider the SWOT (strengths, we

Running head: ANALYSIS OF WALMART 0

Analysis of Walmart

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Walmart Inc.

Walmart Inc. has been facing stiff competition, which has affected the delivery of services from the then market giant. This necessitates for action to be taken to restore the competitive advantage that Walmart Inc. once had in the market. The retail market services are highly infused with new and similar service providers. Porter's five forces can, therefore, be used to restore the competitive advantage of the company. For instance, there is:

The bargaining power of the buyers –Low

Walmart has a challenge from the buyers who want the best at the least of prices. This compromises the profitability of the company (Dälken, 2014). Customers are continually growing a more powerful base, which gives them a better ability to seek better offers and discounts, which is a challenge for Walmart Inc. to provide.

The bargaining power of the sellers –Low

The powerful suppliers in the retail market have resorted to using their negotiating power to get higher prices from firms like Walmart Inc., which lowers the profitability obtained by Walmart Inc. This can be mitigated by using innovation to identify and launch new products that will prevent Walmart's Inc. customers from defecting to competitors.

The threat of substitute products –Medium

New products that are launched that act as substitutes to meet the needs of the users also poses a challenge to the operation of Walmart Inc. For example, Google Drive and Dropbox have been developed as substitute storage products to the hardware storage devices. According to Dälken (2014), the value of threat posed by substitute products can grow and be high when the substitute products offer additional features to the products being substituted. This can be mitigated through increasing the switching cost for clients and a proper understanding of the needs of the people. Walmart should also be service oriented besides being product oriented.

The threat of new entrants into the retail industry environment – Medium

Walmart should strive to establish a means to compete fairly in the market despite the entry of new entrants (Dälken, 2014). New entrants lower the price and reduce the cost of their products, which becomes a challenge for Walmart. Walmart Inc. could solve this by designing new innovative products and services and lowering the price per unit by establishing the economies of scale.

Competition from existing players – Strong

Walmart needs to establish intensive growth strategies to grow the business continually. However, new players come with new policies like innovation, which challenges Walmart Inc. to invest in similar to as to remain competitive. Dälken, (2014) asserts that this can be countered through designing new innovative products and services, lowering the cost per unit through building the economies of scale, increasing the market size, and spending money on research and development to understand customer needs and come up better standards that other retailers will follow.

Walmart’s Order Winner

An order winner is a feature that can be used to win the bid or make the customer to purchase a product (Buckley, Burton & Mirza, 2016). These are the features that make a product to get into the market and be accepted by the customers. Some of the order winners for Walmart Inc. include low pricing of products and services daily, creating the idea that Walmart was "a store of the community," and a broad product portfolio. On the contrary, the order qualifiers are the features that make a product to be considered by the customers. Examples include consistent quality and availability of the products and services to the clients.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths (Internal Forces)	Walmart has its strengths in its size, which enable the company to withstand competition despite being a low-cost retailer. Strengths for Walmart Inc. include its global supply chain, the high efficiency of the supply chain, and its international organizational size for expansion.
Weaknesses (Internal Factors)	Walmart has challenges in tackling the challenges imposed on the retail store (Ahmadi, Dileepan & Wheatley, 2016). These include its thin profit margins, the competitive disadvantage the company has in trying to compete with high-end specialty sellers, and its simple business model that can be copied easily.
Opportunities (External Factors)	Walmart has the opportunity to improve in expanding in the developing countries, improving the quality standards, and bettering the human resources to create competitive advantage in the labor market.
Threats (External Forces)	The main threats that Walmart is faced with are linked to consumer perceptions and the condition of the retail market. These include aggressive competition, which might capture Walmart's clients and the various sizes of online retailers.

References

Ahmadi, M., Dileepan, P., & Wheatley, K. K., (2016). A SWOT analysis of big data. Journal of Education for Business, 91(5), 289-294.

Buckley, P. J., Burton, F., & Mirza, H. (Eds.). (2016). The strategy and organization of international business. Springer.

Dälken, F., (2014). Are Porter’s five competitive forces still applicable? A critical examination concerning the relevance for today’s business (Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente).