Wal-Mart Expands Web Shopping
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Electronic Commerce
By RACHEL BECK AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP)- Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE:WMT - news) redesigned Web site will include more than 600,000 items and will allow shoppers to do everything from booking airline reservations to refilling prescription drugs to buying best-selling books.
The world's largest retailer unveiled details of its much-awaited Internet strategy late Tuesday, just hours after it announced an aggressive store expansion plan for next year and better-than-expected sales for September.
Industry analysts have been waiting for details of Wal-Mart's new site, many believing the retailing giant's push online could revolutionize e-commerce. Wal-Mart is known for keeping prices down and has very sophisticated method of collecting consumer and product information.
Wal-Mart will launch the revamped Wal-Mart.com site early next year, though some of the changes - including a broader selection of toys and electronics - will start appearing on the site this holiday shopping season.
''This is not just about just doing e-commerce,'' said Glenn Habern, senior vice president of new business development at Wal-Mart. ''It is about driving traffic to our stores as well as doing things online.''
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said the new site by next May will have about six times as many products than are found at one of its discount stores. The number of books, music, video games and home video titles alone will increase tenfold from what Wal-Mart.com offers now.
Wal-Mart.com will also offer travel services, including reservations for airline tickets, hotels and car rentals. Late next year, it will also offer on online pharmacy, giving shoppers the option to receive their prescriptions by mail or pick them up at a local Wal-Mart store.
Prices on the Web site will match those found in its stores, but shoppers will be required to pay extra for delivery. Items bought online can be returned to Wal-Mart's bricks-and-mortar stores, according to analysts who attended the conference where details of the new Web strategy were revealed.
''They will be very competitive with prices on the Internet just like they are in their stores,'' said Walter Loeb, a retail consultant who runs Loeb Associates. ''So if someone like eToys is offering something for a lot less, they will fight it out with them.''
Some Wal-Mart stores will have kiosks linked to the company's Web site, so that shoppers can find merchandise that may not be stocked in the stores.
Wal-Mart will promote the Web site through in-store signs and its weekly newspaper circulars, analysts said.
In addition to its Internet announcement, Wal-Mart also said Tuesday that it planned to l open, remodel or relocate as many as 340 stores next year, as well as greatly expand the number of distribution centers it operates.
The bulk of Wal-Mart's new stores, 160 to 165, will be SuperCenters, which combine traditional Wal-Mart discount stores with grocery operations. About 100 of them will be expansions of existing discount stores.
About 40 new stores will be the retailer's regular discount stores.
Wal-Mart will expand testing its Neighborhood Markets, adding five to 10 units in the fiscal year starting Feb. 1. Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division will open 20 to 25 discount warehouse stores, with about half being relocations.
The company also plans to open up to 100 stores in existing foreign markets, including Germany and Mexico.
Kurt Barnard, president of the newsletter Barnard's Retail Trend Report, said the expansion will benefit consumers because it will intensify competition with rival merchants, which could force prices down at other stores..
Wal-Mart also unveiled the largest distribution center expansion in its history. It will add four regional general merchandise centers, four food distribution centers and two fresh food distribution centers.
As of Sept. 30, Wal-Mart had 1,821 discount stores, 650 SuperCenters and 453 Sam's Clubs in the United States. It also has more than 850 stores overseas.
Wal-Mart also announced that its sales from stores open at least a year rose 7.2 percent in September compared with a year ago, while total sales rose 26.4 percent from year-ago levels.
Sales from stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales, are considered the most accurate measure of a retailer's business. Other retailers are expected to report their monthly sales figures on Thursday. |
