Our marketing students seem unwilling to believe that Wal-Mart is in the process of upgrading their product mix to offer more expensive, higher-margin items. We keep explaining that Wal-Mart sales are flat, and if the chain does not capture slightly more upscale shoppers (like those from competitor Target Stores,) the retail monolith will stagnate and die. And according to The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription 
required,) Wal-Mart is seeking to accomplish this with a departure from their one-store-fits all mode of standardization. Wal-Mart will now divide their approximately 3400 US stores into six different models corresponding to the primary market served:
- African-Americans
- The Affluent
- Empty-Nesters
- Hispanics
- Suburbanites
- Rural
Wal-Mart understands that by offering all customers the same product mix, they are under-serving everyone. About 85% of the US population shops at a Wal-Mart store at least once a year, and Marketing Blurb wishes the retail giant well with this restructuring.
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