Ged Carroll

Walmart

Published: (Updated: ) in business | 商業 | 상업 | ビジネス, innovation | 革新 | 독창성 | 改変, online | 線上 | 온라인으로 | オンライン, retailing | 零售 | 소매업 | 小売業 by .

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Today some of the most successful companies out there are ones that have a key technology platform and Walmart looks like it will be joining them:

I think we’ll soon see Walmart added to this list. At the present time the average consumer view of Walmart is likely to be that of a large, malevolent, low-class retailer in the US; the weird Yanks that bought ASDA in the UK and a trusted supermarket in China.

What these perceptions don’t tell you is that Walmart has innovation in its corporate DNA. In 1987, they set up a satellite network connecting stores with headquarters over voice and data. When I was in college Walmart was associated with the ‘beer and diapers’ urban legend precisely because the company had a reputation for pioneering and pushing supply chain management and data-mining to the edge in order to maximise returns from its stores.

Walmart like Amazon already has a large logistics footprint; some of the moves it has been making over the past 18 months make me think that the company is going for a big platform play – building a big box retailer online. Bear with me, while I run you through a few selected highlights:

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