WalMart v.s. Target - The Store Wars
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The battle for your sacred consumer dollar is on!
Written by Andrew Torchon
The retail market place is a vast battleground where the fight for shoppers has created super stores that encompass large landscapes filled with all things for all people. The movies have captured on film the classic competitions between department store giants of Macy and Gimbel, two of the more higher end retail outlets who had set the stage for where we are today.
In our present economic times our sights for consumer goods has made us look towards more reasonable stores where our dollars where go further and we can find most of anything under one roof. Unlike warehouse type outlets like Costco, Big Lots and Sam’s club, two retail consumer mega stores have embraced the suburban household for those who reside in the heartland of the middle class.
Target and WalMart know their demographics like few others in the game. WalMart has shown a remarkable profit in recent years and over the last quarter has actually made more money because of the downturn of the economy. Target has faired well by increasing both their product lines and realigning the image of the store to embrace a wider range of shoppers and by turning out some truly hip and modern advertising to capture the younger market while appealing to their parents as well.
WalMart was the first to introduce the selling of groceries in their store, a practice Target quickly emulated. Now both store have changed their store model to become a hybrid of items in which a family could literally spend their whole family budget at one location. Indeed at both stores you’ll find all the clothing, costume jewelry, shoes, electronics, housewares and music and books as you always have but in addition they have incorporated an almost complete grocery store.
Packed with fresh produce, beverages, milk, bottled water and dry goods, Target and WalMart has built into what was once just your basic retail clothing store, a store within a store. The only things missing from these super markets is a fresh meat, fish and poultry department although it could very well be coming soon.
WalMart has been offering full Optometrist services that take insurance or walk in. Target has yet to duplicate this mega mart advance but shouldn’t be too far behind. The difference between these two outlets seems to be one more of image and organization than just the quality of products although upon quick inspection it appears that Target tends towards a little more of higher quality without having to raise the price.
WalMart’s reputation for some time has been one of a lower income, trailer-trash image. The punch-line of many a late night comedian, WalMart has tried to deny this image while at the same time almost wearing it as a badge of honor. It is a fact that their prices are low and their products to fall into the category of less than stellar but still to be fair the picture of a large woman in a house dress, dragging 5 kids behind her as she tosses items in her cart is not the typical shopper. They do go there but they are not the only ones.
No the biggest reason for the differences of reputation comes largely due to the appearance of the store and people themselves.
Walk into most Targets and you’ll see and feel a greater sense of organization. The shelves, for the most part, are well aligned and have been stocked and maintained. The WalMart outlet, in all honesty, is just a travesty of disheveled items unattended and left on the floors for people to kick aside or step on. It’s truly a shame and it seems to be an attitude that comes from the people working there.
Where as Target at least tries to act like a business and their staff look and attempt to be professional, in all general appearance the staff at a local WalMart barely seem to care about what they look like or how the store is presented.
This could be a product of poor training, management or most likely both. Attitude starts from the top down and managers must set the example. Perhaps it’s the uniform of white shirts that are almost always come untucked as opposed to the Target uniform of the red pull over polo shirt and black pants. A look that is comfortable, easy to manage and provides the worker with room to move. It is a very uniform uniform and the sheer simplicity and color of it makes it hard to mess it up.
The WalMart look is a old, tired and looks terrible. It’s time to change to something that brings up the level of practicality as well as putting a little style on the employee. It might just wear off.
The biggest thing that WalMart has going for them is their loyal shoppers that either don’t care or don’t realize why their beloved store has become the object of ridicule and scorn by anybody who makes more than the minimum wage. This shouldn’t be and it’s an insult to those hard working people that need to go where they can get everything at a price they can afford. Just because a store sells it’s wares at bargain prices shouldn’t mean that they should have to look and act like a bargain basement. WalMart has made plenty of money off their demographic and should take some of it and improve how they look and how they operate, giving their shoppers a better place to come to.
Who knows, they might even increase their target market.
Torchon @ November 10, 2008