Hello,
This week I’ll be talking about retailer
using social media technology to enhance their products and services in an
innovative way. I choose Walmart, who use different social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest , YouTube and LinkedIn to
connect to their customers and to promote their products and services.
A brief
description about the company
Walmart is
an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of department and
warehouse stores and one of the largest in retail sector. The company was founded by Sam Walton and opened the first Walmart store in 1962 in
Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart helps us save money anytime and anywhere through
their retail stores, online website and through mobile devices social
technology. According to the Walmart’s corporate website, each week
around 245 million customers visit 11,000 stores in 27 countries with 71
different banners and ecommerce website in 10 countries. Walmart has made sales
of approximately US$473 billion for 2014 fiscal year and they employs
around 2.2million associates around the world with 1.2 million in US only.
According to
company’s corporate website, Walmart is world’s largest, fastest and most
dynamic e-commerce organisation. With such a huge business, Walmart brings access of its
products to the customers through e-commerce anytime and anywhere. Company’s
global e-commerce is based in California’s Silicon Valley and operations based
in India and Brazil leads all online and mobile innovation of Walmart. Also
company uses best technologies and tools to create a seamless experience for
the customers to shop anytime and anywhere using social and mobile tools.
The video
below displays how top technology experts suggest and Walmart ecommerce team
discusses on how to enhance customers shopping experience in both online and in
store.
This shows
how Walmart is dedicated to use social technology tools to provide service
anytime and anywhere through online, store and mobile.
The social
technology Walmart has implemented are social media networks such as like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest , YouTube and LinkedIn to connect to their
customers and to promote their products and services. Company’s social network
Twitter focuses on providing information major activities, initiatives and
promotional events of the products.
Company’s social network Facebook
page focuses on reviews and feedbacks; receives lots of interaction and
showcase different products and services. Also there are dedicated Facebook pages for every
location My
Local Walmart, and can be diverted with just a zip code. Other social network pages like Google+,
Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn focusses on providing updates of the company
products and services.
According to
McKinsey
10 social technologies value levers, social technologies add value to improve
intra- or inter- organizational collaboration and communication. Social
technology helps in communication and in turn enhances the collaboration in
between the staff and other organisations members. Thus, Walmart could
implement a social media platform to communicate and collaborate with similar
other retails stores to gain more (noticeable) publicity. This will in turn
help to pull more customers from the rival retail store. Also this collaboration and communication
with other retail stores would help Walmart to expand their products and
services in the places where they currently don’t have. With this customers can
give more feedbacks about the products and services. This could help Walmart to
reach more target audience around the world.
The McKinsey
social technology report also explains how social technology can be used to
match talent to task. It is very important to use social technology to promote
and find future talent for the company. Walmart’s LinkedIn page provides insights
of what company is looking for. This page provides all (HOT JOBS ALERTS)
updates, specific requirement and position.
Thank you
for reading my blog. If you have any other recommendation, please leave a
comment below.
Well done! Customer is everything. Companies are nothing without customers.Yes, When customer is the target, then companies such Walmart should implement any social tools to:
ReplyDelete- Increase anything that may be a concept to reach the target such as enticing customer; and/or
- Decrease cost as much as possible according to Mckinsey's.
Good blog and I enjoyed reading.
Regards,
Thanks Yonis
ReplyDeleteHey nice post!
ReplyDeleteI like the way walmart use their external social media, they have a strong presence online. Were you able to find out any information regarding their internal social platforms?
Renee
Thanks Renee.
DeleteI had done some reasearch on their internal social media platform, but unfortunetly was not able to find anything. Do you have any idea about it?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post Walmart use social technology as a method to improve its services as all other organisation. You said that "Thus, Walmart could implement a social media platform to communicate and collaborate with similar other retails stores to gain more (noticeable) publicity. This will in turn help to pull more customers from the rival retail store". I believe there is another competition between all organisation to have the best services and to provide their customer better services so I think that Walmart can't communicate with other organisation because they still have the competition between them so other organisation wouldn't accept this kind of communication.
Thank you