It
is quite difficult to imagine if someone is not familiar with the two names:
Walmart and Tops Friendly Markets. But if it is still the case, let us briefly
introduce the two American retailers with great magnitude.
Walmart
Founded
by Sam Walton in 1962, Walmart is a retail corporation that operates more than
11,000 stores in around 27 countries (Anon, 2012). The company operates under
55 different names in various multinational markets and is regarded as the
largest private sector employer and the largest company by revenues. Walmart
has many competitors in the market, but it has been at war with Tops Friendly
Markets.
Tops
Friendly Markets
Founded
in the same year, 1962, by Armand Castellani and Thomas Buscaglia, Tops
Friendly Markets is a chain of supermarkets that has its head office in New
York City (Kumar, 2014). The American retailer has acquired many other food and
grocery chains over the years in order to expand its network. It also went
through hard times in early 2018, when the owed company debt went up to $720
million but the company re-emerged from these crises.
Walmart
vs. Tops Friendly Markets
Walmart
and Tops Friendly Markets have been serving American customers for more than
half a century now. We can easily assume that they have so much experience
under their belt and that they simply cannot go wrong. Unfortunately, that is not
the case.
Tops
Friendly Markets has seen a lot worse in recent years as compared to its
competitor. The supermarket has closed down many of its underperforming stores,
and this is caused by poor management at the top level (Anon, 2015). Where many
new chains heavily invested in new technologies and infrastructure to add value
in customer experience, Tops Friendly Markets has failed to proactively invest
in such value-laden services. The New York-based retailer has been reluctant in
reducing its prices to attract more customers which remain a sheer example of
poor management.
Walmart,
on the contrary, has also felt the pressure of squeezed retail market; however,
it has been very flexible in its approach towards adopting the change. The
giant, to stay competitive, has offered price cuts and runs various promotional
campaigns for its wide range of products. This attracts the customer to shop in
its stores.
The
company’s overall successful expansion in global markets is proof of its
investment strategy (Anon, 2019). Although it operates under different brand
names internationally, the company keeps the core values the same which are to
attract the customers with in-store prices and quality service. ‘SAVE MONEY,
LIVE BETTER’ is the same slogan Walmart uses for its US-based chain and
UK-based superstore, where it operates under the brand name ASDA.
In
late 2018, Walmart made another smart investment with Microsoft and Google to
enhance its customer experience. The company has made active acquisitions to
boost its presence in the world of e-commerce. The company also spent huge sums
to enhance its in-store automation operations across 5000 outlets.
This
is the brief discussion of how Tops Friendly Markets has built a huge debt over
the years and how it has failed over time due to its poor management. The
investment in the futuristic opportunities was also taken into consideration.
We have also discussed how Walmart has been actively taking decisions of
forming partnerships and acquisition of companies to ensure that the company
does not suffer from any unwanted and unseen surprises.
