Wal-Marts Pricing Strategy: Success or Failure - Essay Example

Wal-Mart has been able to sell things cheaper because it has hired the services of vendors that would make its products at the cheapest rate. In order to achieve this, Wal-Mart has mostly relied upon foreign vendors. “From the beginning, like other discounters, Walton had bought goods wherever he could get them cheapest, with any other considerations secondary” (Ortega, 1999, p. 205). By doing so, Wal-Mart has partly moved against the interest of America since the local business was affected and more foreigners were involved in the business than Americans, yet Wal-Mart was able to make the profits beyond expectations at the end of the day. Wal-Mart has been conventionally criticized for its supplier base and marketing strategies, though whatever it did worked at least for Wal-Mart. Although Wal-Mart has actually chosen diversity as a tool to encourage the associates to optimize their skills (Walmart Corporate, n.d.), yet the emphasis on diversity also provides Wal-Mart with a smart way out with the inclusion of foreign vendors in Wal-Mart’s business.