As a person who has lived in China her entire life, I sincerely say that Wal-Mart is definitely not as dominant there as it is in the United States. A company’s buyer power, certainly does not determine its’ success. As Anthea stated in her blog “Wal-Mart has perfectly exhibited the ripple effect of when the average Chinese consumer has buyer power against the supermarket giant.”

Many multinational companies including Wal-Mart have targeted China for its booming development. Wal-Mart’s strategy now is to stock the Chinese stores with newer, upgraded products. In order to gain a point of difference Wal-Mart decided to donate 77 million RMB to local charities. “This helped Wal-Mart gain acceptance and smoothed the way for the opening of some superstores and Sam’s Club units.” However, with an increasingly high number of substitutes in the grocery market industry, Chinese residents would much rather buy groceries from the cheaper alternatives, such as the local market or any local convenient store such as Beijing Haolian Group.

In her blog, Anthea explains how Wal-Mart’s lead time will be reduced with China’s new distribution facilities, but also it decreases the distance Wal-Mart’s stocks travel to arrive at its store. “This is creating share value by redefining productivity in its value chain.”

Works Cited:

Low, Anthea. “Walmart vs Chinese Consumer.” UBC Blogs. N.p., 17 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Loeb, Walter. “How Walmart Will Fight To Be Successful In China.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.