Six months on from US private equity firm Advent International acquiring a majority stake in the business, Walmart Brasil has instigated a change to its pricing policy, according to reports.
Citing an anonymous source, daily Valor Economico says the change in strategy comes after low sales growth in the second half of 2018.
In recent weeks, the Brazil’s third largest food retailer has started to promote an 'aggressive' discount policy and offers. For example, cleaning and beauty products now offer a 50% discount on the purchase of a second item.
Previously, Walmart Brasil followed the 'Every Day Low Price' strategy of its US parent company, however, changes to the pricing model had already been introduced last year, with Walmart under pressure from aggressive promotions by rival chains Pão de Açúcar and Carrefour.
Under Review
In addition, the commercial and tech structure of the network are also under review and could lead to the transformation of Walmart's hypermarkets into units of Maxxi Atacado, the group's mixed retail format, later this year.
Changes are also expected regarding the number of banners trading under the umbrella of Walmart – there are currently nine banners in total, which add up to 437 stores in the country. Between 2016 and 2017, a project to transform regional banners in the Northeast and South region was announced, but was not continued.
One of the measures being evaluated is the Bompreço banner, which focuses on the northeast region and was acquired by Walmart in 2004.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
