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Insights Mission
HomeINFORMATION & INSIGHTS
The Impact of Project Impact
Insight for Walmart vendors from NPD’s
Global Team Leader, Walmart, Paul Cantrell,
who oversees NPD’s partnership with Walmart.
For Walmart vendors, Project Impact is creating real change – and fast – as the world’s biggest retailer has made getting close to the consumer a top priority. As you think of your Walmart relationship, it’s important to keep in mind three core concepts related to Walmart’s focus on the consumer.
1. Offer ideas to speed up the shopping experience by creating clarity in the assortment. Walmart’s “clean floor policy” is a fundamental step in making the store experience enjoyable and efficient. In many categories, we have seen SKU assortments cut by more than 50 percent, yet category sales have not suffered and in some cases, have increased. Using clarity concepts to drive sales is becoming more and more critical in the decisions Walmart makes.
2. It’s time to think of Walmart as one channel that encompasses physical stores and online shopping. Walmart’s move to organize Walmart.com under the store division leadership is yet another signal of Walmart’s commitment to own the transaction process end to end. Site-to-Store and integrating in-store and online merchandising seem to be the logical progression of the strategy. While in the past understanding a dot-com shopper versus an in-store shopper was acceptable, today is a different world. Success today is about connecting the online experience, whether for research or purchase, to the experience of the brick-and-mortar division.
3. Be prepared for more pressure from private label. The sourcing move by Walmart to move a significant piece of its apparel line to global procurement from Li & Fung Group is an important move. Not only will global synergies result, but significant scale benefits will arise. With all the major moves happening at Walmart, one important development seems to have received only limited attention: Andrea Thomas will be moving over to General Merchandise to lead Walmart’s private label efforts. It is important to note that Andrea was the architect behind the “Great Value” brand initiative, which continues to grow in momentum across virtually every consumable category.
So as a vendor, how do you succeed in this challenging environment?
- Be a solution provider. It seems the vendors who are winning are the ones who bring ideas on top of their enhanced margin plans.
- Know your consumer, and just as importantly, know Walmart’s target consumer: the Price Sensitive Shopper.
- Demonstrate category leadership. With the consumer at the center, delivery of category growth strategies is a key point of differentiation that few suppliers are providing today.
Learn more.
Let us know if you’d like to learn more about NPD’s Consumer Tracking Service for Walmart, Walmart Custom Solutions, or other products and services built on our unique partnership with Walmart. Contact Charles Camaroto at 866-444-1411 (contactnpd@npd.com).
