BOUMEHREZ AZZA 1st year master marketing

Wal-Mart VS Carrefour which retailer will win the battle for global leadership?

Wal-mart

Wal-mart was founded by Sam Walton and his brother, James “Bud” Walton, in 1962.
The Walton boys revolutionized discount retailing, with the result that by 1989 Walmart was the world’s largest retailer. The Walton’s proposition was simple, deliver a wide array of merchandise at discount prices topped up by a friendly service.

Although the early 1990s saw Wal-mart operating more than 2,000 stores worth more than US$73 billion, the stagnant American economy was making it difficult to sustain the company’s historic double-digit comparable store sales growth. With limited domestic options, Wal-mart, for the first time, began to consider expansion outside the US seriously.
Wal-mart’s first external foray was into Mexico where, in 1991, it formed a partnership with CIFRA, Mexico’s most successful retailer. The success of Wal-mart’s Mexican expansion was seen by several analysts as the result of an improved economic landscape; the promise associated with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and familiarity and demand for US products, as many of the middle class population had relatives living in the US or were under the influence of the “American-way-of-life”. Wal-mart’s external efforts in Mexico and the move into Puerto Rico and Argentina in1992 did little to bolster the company’s fortunes. Sales growth was down again in 1993 and the firm’s stock plummeted 22 percent, destroying nearly US$17 billion of value. For the first time, the giant’s performance was being doubted. However, the company continued moving offshore. In 1994 it purchased 122 Woolco stores in Canada and quickly converted their operations to the Wal-mart format. However, to assuage local fears, the company moved carefully, giving Canadian vendors