First, Wal-Mart's information concept and strategy
Sam walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, served in the US Army Intelligence Force in his early years, so he paid special attention to information communication and information system construction. After the company entered the stage of large-scale market expansion and development, Wal-Mart took the lead in using various advanced technologies in the systematic management mode of e-commerce information. Wal-Mart's information management runs through the whole value chain, with advanced information technology as the means and information flow as the center, driving the movement of logistics and capital flow, and achieving the goals of zero inventory, zero working capital and zero distance for users by integrating global supply chain resources and global user resources. Information management should not be just a system, but should be promoted to the strategic level, instead of being involved in a large number of low-value maintenance and operation affairs. As Walton insisted: "Information technology begins with strategy, not system."
Promoting informatization to a strategic level is one of the important reasons for Wal-Mart's success. On the one hand, Wal-Mart has realized global unified procurement and suppliers' independent management of the goods on the shelves through the supply chain information system, which has reduced the purchase price of products by 10% compared with competitors. On the other hand, Wal-Mart also monitors the sales network all over the country through satellites, and carries out timely procurement management and inventory distribution of goods. When Kmart (the third largest discount retail chain in the United States) also realized the importance of informationization and began to emulate the former, Wal-Mart had already equipped various information systems including satellite monitoring system, customer information management system, distribution center management system, financial management system and personnel management system in 4,000 retail stores around the world.
Second, Wal-Mart's information highlights
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1 hour-global commodity inventory Wal-Mart's more than 4,000 stores around the world can count the inventory, shelves and sales of each commodity within 1 hour through its network.
The computer network configuration of the whole company was completed in 1977, which can handle salary distribution, customer information, order-delivery-delivery, and realize the rapid and direct communication between the company headquarters and branches and distribution centers. 1979, the first data processing and communication center in Bentonville headquarters was built. Although the area is only 1500 square meters, the whole company has realized computer networking and 24-hour continuous communication.
Advanced electronic communication systems also give Wal-Mart a head start. It has been said that Wal-Mart's electronic information system is the largest civil system in the United States, even surpassing the telecommunications giant AT&T. In the information center of Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, the space of1.2000 square meters is full of computers, and there are more than 200 servers alone. Look at the company's satellite communication room for a minute or two, you can know the sales situation of a day, you can find the total credit of credit cards on that day, you can find the sales quantity of any area or any store and any commodity, and each commodity has a 65-week inventory record.
198 1 year, Wal-Mart began to use bar codes and electronic scanners for automatic inventory control. In the use of bar codes, Wal-Mart is ahead of other retailers and has its own computer network communication system. Using commodity bar codes can replace a lot of manual labor, which not only shortens the checkout time of customers, but also makes it more convenient to track the whole process of goods from procurement to inventory, distribution, delivery, shelves and sales through computers. According to Wal-Mart, in the whole commodity processing process, a total of 60% labor was saved.
In 1980s, Wal-Mart also began to use EDI to establish an automatic ordering system with suppliers. By 1990, Wal-Mart has exchanged electronic data with 1800 of its more than 5,000 suppliers, becoming the largest user of EDI technology in the United States.
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$700 million-"Selling eggs via satellite"
By the early 1990s, Wal-Mart had invested 700 million dollars in computers and satellite communication systems, but it was only a discount department store retail company with a net profit of only 2%-3%.
1983, the satellites launched by Wal-Mart and Hughes are unique milestones in retail history.
By the end of 1980s, the operation of Wal-Mart distribution center had been fully automated. Each distribution center covers an area of about 654.38 million square meters. Every commodity has a bar code, which is transported by a conveyor belt more than ten kilometers long. The storage location and delivery of every commodity are tracked by laser scanners and computers. By the 1990s, the company had sold 80,000 kinds of goods, 85% of which were supplied by these distribution centers, while only about 50%-65% of competitors' goods were distributed centrally.
Wal-Mart's delivery fleet may also be the largest in the United States. Wal-Mart usually delivers goods to each branch once a day, while Kmart delivers goods once every five days on average. All 5000 Wal-Mart transport trucks are equipped with satellite positioning systems.
With the continuous development of the world economy and the rapid development of modern science and technology, the great changes in social production mode and people's lifestyle have further diversified and personalized consumer demand, which requires that retail methods must be constantly innovated to adapt to the changes of the times. The development of contemporary retail formats presents the following trends: new retail formats emerge one after another, retail life cycle is shortened, retail technology is becoming increasingly important, competition among formats is becoming increasingly fierce, management is developing in the direction of polarization, vertical marketing system is further developed, store-free sales are growing rapidly, and retail formats are becoming increasingly fierce. These complex and changeable forms require that the development of enterprises must rely on powerful information system strategies to meet the needs of today's retail industry. And Wal-Mart is relying on the understanding of different stages of the retail industry, using different stages of information technology ahead of other competitors, thus casting the legend of the Wal-Mart empire.