Recently, it appears that Wal-Mart is beginning to open a number of small convenience stores across America. Traditionally, Wal-Mart has been synonymous with huge stores that offer everything that a household needs. The size of Wal-Mart’s stores is part of its identity. However, Wal-Mart’s new plan sees them talking a step in the complete opposite direction.

Later this year, Wal-Mart plans to open around 300 smaller convenience-style stores. Although the decision may seem strange at first, it is important to look at some current trends in our society. More so than ever, we are a time-poor society. We find ourselves always at a lack of time and as a result, we want things as quickly as possible. The scarcity of time has led to increases in certain products. Microwave meals, for example, have become increasingly popular as opposed to the traditional approach of cooking meals from scratch.

The use of convenience stores is just another example to emphasize our lack of time. Instead of spending our time strolling through the many aisles of a full-size Wal-Mart, many would prefer to quickly go in and out of a smaller tightly packed convenience store. Ultimately, Wal-Mart’s decision makes a lot more sense when we examine current trends.

Without adapting to the changes in the trends of society, businesses will inevitably lose their relevance to a consumer. Although Wal-Mart stands high above others in terms of success in the past, it knows that a successful company must grow and evolve. As consumers continue to seek out more and more convenience, Wal-Mart’s traditional structure offers less and less value. Convenience style stores will likely prove to be an unorthodox yet successful venture for Wal-Mart.

A recent article regarding Victoria’s Secret growing emergence in mainland China provides great insight into the concept of global marketing. For many years, consumers in China have viewed Victoria’s Secret’s products as functional items. They would buy underwear simply for its purpose, as opposed to viewing the item as a luxury. However, as this mindset is changing among the Chinese, Victoria’s Secret is adapting also. The exploration into the Chinese market is a prime example of a company’s ability to capitalize in overseas markets when the time is right.

However, deciding upon whether the time is right or not, is often a difficult task. Previously, many successful North American companies have failed to make the transition to Asian markets. Best Buy, for example, tried to apply the same strategies that worked for them in North America. This meant securing large locations for big stores. However, this proved to a big very expensive strategy given the high-cost of land in densely populated areas like Shanghai. Inevitably, Best Buy closed down all their stores in Asia in 2011. The failure of Best Buy goes to show that different markets require different marketing strategies.

In the Victoria’s Secret example, they are strategically starting out with special Beauty and Accessories stores. Given that $50 sweatpants and provocative lingerie will not likely be in high demand in China, this is a logical approach. It is important to adjust marketing in terms of the economic, political, and cultural differences between regions or countries.