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Introduction:E-marketing or electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and technique via electronic media and more specifically the internet. The terms e-marketing, Internet marketing and online marketing, are frequently interchanged. E-marketing is the process of marketing a brand using the internet. E-marketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing its brand identity. In the competitive era of marketing, companies must have an e-marketing plan to cope up with the business environment and capture more customers. Today's consumers turn to the Internet to find local businesses, research product information and compare services of different companies. Businesses that operate robust search engine-optimized websites appear at the top of search results. Online marketing isn't just for online businesses but also boosts sales for bricks-and-mortar establishments. As more people access the Internet through smart phones, mobile-optimized websites increase walk-in local traffic.
E-marketing plan:The e-marketing plan is a blueprint for e-marketing strategy formulation and implementation. It is a guiding, dynamic document that links the firm’s e-business strategy with technology-driven marketing strategies and lays out details for plan implementation through marketing management. The e-marketing plan serves as a road map to guide the in the direction it wishes to take and helps it allocate resources and makes adjustments as needed. There are seven steps in e-marketing plan. These are— 1. Situation Analysis 2. E-marketing Strategic Planning 3. Plan Objectives 4. E-marketing Strategy 5. Implementation plan 6. Budget 7. Evaluation plan
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I choose Walmart for describing their e-marketing plan in their business. Let’s see whether Walmart use all the seven steps or not in their marketing plan.
About Walmart:Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton in Rogers, Ark. Walmart is a US based multinational retail company that sells general merchandise and groceries. It is the world’s largest retailer, third biggest public company, largest private employer and one of the most valuable companies in the world. They focus on making a difference in the lives of their customers, and helping customers and communities save money and live better. Walmart is best known for its big-box stores, but the retail giant has positioned itself for a future where e-commerce plays a larger role by instituting management and structural changes. Walmart customers expect to have access to great products at low prices, anytime, anywhere. With the best and brightest technologists, including @WalmartLabs, they are creating a seamless experience that lets customers shop anytime and anywhere using online, mobile, social and stores. Their largest website, Walmart.com, sees 45 million visits a month and is growing every year. With mobile apps, shipping options like Home Free, Site to Store, Pick up Today, Ship from Store and Same Day Delivery, they are connecting the experience between online and U.S. stores. Mobile transforms the retail experience by bringing together online and stores – putting power directly in the customers' hands. Walmart has some of the best data scientists and the largest collection of commerce data in the world. They are using that, along with social insights, to deliver a personalized shopping experience -- understanding not just what customers want and need, but also where they want it and how they want to experience it. Let’s see how Walmart use the e-marketing plan in their online business.
Step 1: Situation Analysis:The marketing environment is ever changing, providing plenty of opportunities to develop new products, new markets, and new media to communicate with customers, new channels to reach
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business partners. The environment poses competitive, economic and other threats. The environmental factors that affect e-marketing plan of Walmart are described below— Legal Factors:Walmart must carefully analyze the business-related polices. Competition laws, taxation laws, and labor training laws are areas in which policies can affect Walmart’s operation and profitability a lot. Walmart is facing an issue regarding discrimination of employees based on their gender. Women are discriminated by not allowing them to sit in supervisory and managerial levels. There are said to be pending lawsuits waiting for Walmart's notions as the company has allegedly went against the labor laws. This negative reputation could result in a loss of competitive advantages, sales, and possibly Walmart’s reputation as the world’s leading retail companies. Therefore, engaging in gender equality practices will help contribute to Walmart’s success. Technological Factors:Walmart embraced technology to become an innovator in the way stores track inventory and restock their shelves. Walmart has invested heavily in its unique cross docking inventory system, which can help Walmart to achieve economies of scale to reduce the costs. It affects customer flow and sales directly. In the information age, network technology break through the geographical limitation, retailers nowadays can expand their market globally. Technology changes customers’ behavior from “store shopping” to “home shopping”. They can save a lot time by easily shop online. This change lead to operational changes for retailer. . Development of information technology also affects Walmart’s human resources. Technology can replace some man power, and for those remaining employees, constant training will be needed for them to be competent. With its successful system, Walmart is able to responds quickly at demand changing, maintain low costs and satisfy its customers. The effort that Walmart put into the supply chain management makes the company become the leader of this area.
Global Market:Walmart focus on the global market, the company expands into many different countries. However, there are different cultures and laws apply to in different countries, which may increase the risk and expenditure of the company to enter into a new market.
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SWOT Analysis of Walmart:-
SWOT analysis of walmart is given below--
Step 2: E-Marketing Strategic Planning:The strategic planning process involves determining the fit between the organization’s objectives, skills, and resources and its changing market opportunities. The market and product strategies are outcomes of strategic planning. Tier 1 task consists of segmentation, targeting, differentiation, and positioning. The elements are described below…
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Segmentation:Walmart has made understanding its own customers a top priority – most recently developing a sophisticated segmentation scheme that reveals the habits, attitudes, and desires of its most important target groups. Knowledge Networks is pleased to be Walmart's research partner in allowing access to the proprietary Walmart Segmentation Lens; this gives manufacturers the chance to develop marketing strategies and tactics designed to succeed. Walmart will grow by looking at every piece of research through the eyes of these key segments. Targeting:Walmart targets one or more segments. Their choice generally depend on several factors. First, how well are existing segments served by other manufacturers? Secondly, how large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow? Thirdly, do we have strengths as a company that will help us appeal particularly to one group of consumers? Walmart’s most important target segments are- Brand aspirationals, price value, price sensitive affluent shoppers. Walmart target young and the mature people in the society. They use the tagline “Save money, live better”. They target those families who want to save money and those who don’t have enough time for shopping. Differentiation:Walmart is the world’s largest retail stores. They already have a strong brand name. Walmart differentiate them through their service. They provide electronic receipt, better price with better value, customizing local assortments, store branded products, online price match guarantee, creates global e-commerce unit. Walmart is dabbling in same-day delivery and even going a step further. Positioning:Positioning involve implementing the targets. Wal-Mart has redefined the art of online marketing, using techniques at grand and impressive scales to become one of the top company’s in the wide history of corporate America. Wal-Mart’s online marketing campaign covers all
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facets of strategy, but through all the apparent strategies. One can purchase their entire collection of products through the web. One can read customer reviews, sign-up for a newsletter, and get options for special deals available only through the website. Despite this, such a business relies strongly on their physical location.
Step 3: Business Objectives:An objective in an e-marketing plan takes a form that includes task what is to be accomplished, measurable quantity and time frame.There are many objectives set by the Walmart. These objectives are -
Providing the customers what they want, when they want it, all at a value.
Treating each other as we would hope to be treated, acknowledging our total dependency on our success.
Exceeds customer expectation
To handle their customer’s complaints in a fast and in a friendly manner.
Achieve customer relationship management goals by providing and maintaining good service.
Every company has the objective of increasing sales revenue and market share and reduce costs.
Step 4: E-Marketing Strategies:A business strategy is a business plan that takes place long-term in order to help achieve a specific goal or objective. Marketers craft strategies regarding 4Ps and relationship management. Walmart’s business strategy is to provide a wide variety of high quality, branded and nonbranded products at the lowest possible price. Product Strategies:Walmart is a multinational retailer. It has every product or a brand which a person could see in his day to day life. Walmart sought to project an image “as the competitive, one-stop shopping center for the entire family where customer satisfaction is guaranteed. The broad range of 6
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product categories include electronics items, home appliance, jewellery, grocery, handbags, dairy products, phone and laptop cases, toys, movies, crafts, gifts, college essentials, outdoor living, funeral, video games, laptops, photo books, posters, mugs, auto and tires, clothing, home furnishings, animal food, health and beauty care, pharmacies, frozen food, sporting goods, shoes, luggage and licensed apparel products and so on. Pricing Strategies:Walmart business model doesn’t include manufacturing of any product, it procures products across the globe in large quantities in order to enjoy benefits of economies of scale. This makes price of Walmart to offer products at 15% lower price than other retailers. Walmart uses different or dynamic pricing concepts to get focus of the customers and compel a purchasing behavior through discount strategies. Even its slogan says “Everyday Low Prices”, according to this each product is offered at different discount prices based on the time and demand of the hour. This has helped in all the major decisions at walmart including the use of technology, marketing and distribution. The customer electronics are offered at a very low price compared to other retailers. Distribution Strategies:Walmart’s greatest strength is its inventory control which is achieved through its effective distribution centers. Walmart has strategic locations where in it efficiently brings the products and uses a technique known as cross-docking. The Walmart stores are located in vicinity of its distribution center and Walmart closely associates with the suppliers to simplify the deliveries noticed the cross-docking process and how the company eliminates third party product handling and receives goods directly from the manufacturers. Inbound and outbound trucks are immediately unloaded and reloaded to minimize warehouse inventory time. Walmart removed the entire concept of wholesalers/distributors and they became the pioneers in discount format leader. Walmart maintains a high-class relationship with its suppliers. So the manufacturers cannot compromise with the quality of goods they are supplying to Walmart.
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Marketing Communication Strategies:Walmart, like other companies both small and large, has had its share of challenges in adapting to changes in online technology — specifically in the digital marketing and communications space. Walmart eventually adapted, using the explosion of digital channels to its advantage. Its communications teams became more active in telling the company’s own story. They overcome communication challenges by studying and adopting social strategy, mobile adoption, better storytelling, audience and influencer identification and other tactics. Walmart’s Digital Communications team has two primary responsibilities. First, it is tasked with supporting the business by ensuring that customers and potential customers understand that the discount store has the lowest prices in the industry and that Walmart’s mission is to help them save money so they can live better lives. They are communicated through their website, Facebook, twitter, youtube and so on. They have seven total Twitter handles with @WalmartHub being the “parent” handle. The other accounts feature the following topics:
@WalmartNewsroom – Press releases and other announcements
@WalmartVeterans – Hiring initiatives and other efforts involving veterans
@WalmartGreen – Sustainability-related news
@WalmartGiving – Philanthropic efforts
@WalmartAction – Public policy issues
@WalmartHealthy – Fresh and healthy foods
Relationship Management Strategies:Walmart believe it’s important for the company to hear from shareholders and respond accordingly and maintain a strong relationship. They’ll continue to evaluate and act upon the recommendations that the Board feels are in the best interest of all of our shareholders. This structure allows our management team to focus on long-term value creation for all shareholders and avoids the temptation to respond to short-term pressure that’s not best for our business. Walmart focus on their customers and maintain a strong relationship by offering different types of service. They treat each customer as they would hope to be treated. They ensures that
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customer enjoy themselves in process handles customer complaints in a fast and friendly manner. The customers of different countries are treated differently.
Step 5: Implementation Plan:To achieve the set objectives and Walmart use the combination of their different types of tactics such as marketing mix tactics, relationship management tactics, marketing organization tactics and information tactics. They Walmart explicitly details to suppliers and the public how it is going to measure its progress over time. Walmart will track the percentage of each supplier’s products featuring online ingredient disclosure. Walmart plans to begin publicly reporting progress. Technology allows them to accurately forecast demand, track and predict inventory levels, create highly efficient transportation routes and manage customer relationship and service response logistics. Social networks are online service or online sites allow the establishment of an online community or group of people to interact and share common interests and activists. It helps implementing the plan.
Step 6: Budget:Walmart must identify the expected return on investment.
The receivable turnover is 24.76 % and inventory turnover is 10.96% which indicates the firm is in a good situation. They have the ability to pay back its short term liabilities with its current asset.
Their profit margin is 3.75%, return on investment is 8.32%, return on equity is 22.01% which means stores asset turnover and return on assets keep stable. Pretty low profit margin indicates low-cost strategy.
Walmart increase assortment by 60% and will surpass 10 million items.
Walmart has provided a ladder of opportunity thet is available to their 2.2 million associates globally.
They are committed to their employees. They invest a fair amount of money behind them.
Walmart invest lot of money on their technological improvement. They continuously evaluate the market and made any type of technological advancement as needed. 9
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Walmart’s global women’s economic empowerment initiative provides training, access to markets and career opportunities to nearly 1 million women. They are committed to affording them economic opportunities and increasing sourcing.
Walmart spend a handsome amount of money in technological improvement, employee salaries, website design, other site development sites, marketing communication and in other factors.
Walmart’s financing gap is negative that means it has adequate fund enough cash to purchase capital expenditures without borrowing.
Step 7: Evaluation Plan:Every marketing plan’s success depends on continuous evaluation. Technology allows Walmart to accurately forecast demand, track and predict inventory levels, create highly efficient transportation routes and manage customer relationship and service response logistics. Walmart continuously evaluate their e-marketing plan and continuously add new features that are considered by the customers that are found from the results of market research. Every business should make their SWOT analysis and find out their opportunities and need to take necessary steps to overcome the threats and weaknesses and make a scoreboard to keep an eye on their advancement and activities and then consult with their shareholders about the company’s growyh or necessary steps should be taken ahead.
Conclusion:The above described is a small attempt to analyze the e-marketing plan of the world’s largest retail business. The company showed a steady performance even during the financial crisis and it turned out to be the top out of the competitors. The working culture, the customer-oriented focus and its steady aim in achieving its vision has made it different from rest of the competitors. Its pricing and cost leadership strategies coupled with the effective use of technology has helped transform Walmart to a huge corporation. Walmart invests in providing a better shopping experience to customers. The new product lines such as energy saving products, advancements in healthcare, pharmacy and efficient implementation of IT systems to control the operations all over its stores has paved the way to experience a sustainable growth in the future. 10
