Wally World

Question 1:

- Given the enormous amount of data that Walmart captures, do you think they have been successful at converting into an experience that serves as a competitive advantage for them?

“Wal-Mart executives have spent handsomely for their systems . . . well ahead of the pack.” There is no doubt in my mind that Wal-mart has a competitive advantage because they can successfully convert data into an experience for the customer. Have they reached their potential? Most likely not; but they are trying harder than most, that’s for certain.

Wal-Mart is known for being so widespread and still having economies of scale for so long. This is not only because of their logistics setup, but because they have so much data they can continue so satisfy their customers, and their changing habits. Wal-Mart has more data than one could ever imagine, “the Internet has less than half as much data, according to experts.” And without even a loyalty card service!

It is not hard to tell that Wal-Mart is indeed creating an experience for the customer:

In 1962, four new retailers were born. One called Kmart was started in Garden City, Michigan, another called Target was started in Minneapolis, another from Woolworth, the big name in retailing at the time, called Woolco was started, and the final one in rural Rogers, Arkansas, called Wal-Mart.*

As you can see, Kmart and Target were started in the same year as Wal-Mart, but which one do you see as the leader today? Wal-Mart has transformed into it’s own little world. Who would have imagined when Wal-mart opened, that it would be a one-stop shop, for EVERYTHING. Tires, oil change, hunting, clothes, food, tools, furniture, fabrics..it crazy! But Wal-mart has successfully targeted an enormous segment of the market, with their low prices and huge selection.

Question 2:

- What do you think about the privacy issues associated with all of that data and the amount of personally identifiable data they are able to capture. Does it bother you? Do you trust them with it?

Walmart is a GIANT corporation that has been around since 1962, and collecting data for a while as well, with their major jump in 1991 (scanners). It is definitely uncomforting to know that a supercenter (grocery store?) knows more about someone than their mother, but I do not believe anybody will have any issues with leaked information. Don’t get me wrong, just because I believe that we can trust Wal-Mart – it does not mean that Wal-Mart is right. A grocer should not be recording anyone’s information like a SSN, DL number, mortages, etc.. That is extremely PRIVATE information, and something which I believe, only the individual should know, or the people whom the individual gives it to (consentingly). Even if it is more convenient for us not to have to type in our SSN AND our DL number whenever we want to cash a check everytime; who cares? If that minimal convenience is at the expense of us losing a little bit of our privacy, then it is wrong!

"People don't know that Wal-Mart is capturing information about who they are and what they bought, but they are also capable of capturing a huge amount of outside information about them that has nothing to do with their grocery purchases," said Katherine Albrecht, the founder and director of Caspian, a consumer advocacy group concerned with privacy issues. "They can find out your mortgage amounts, your court dates, your driving record, your creditworthiness."

Does it bother me? –It is not that bothersome simply because what else can we do besides not shop there? Marketing research is getting more and more extensive, and with Wal-Mart at the “head of the pack”, their terabyte mainframes will only be spilling over the top with more information about what you’re going to buy for this hurricane, or how much you paid for your house; and some things will probably be more even more private than what is mined right now.

Because of legal obligations and such (didn’t feel like including “moral obligations” was necessary), we can all rest assure that our identity will in fact remain our own, well kind of.

*http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_Walmart_get_its_start