Michael Duke, chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Walmart Stores, gave an interview at the 2014 Consumer Goods Forum last week about the inherent limitations of an umbrella approach to international expansion.
Localisation, which is tailoring stores and advertising campaigns to suit individual countries, is the modus operandi necessary for supermarket chains to grow outside, and indeed within, their own countries.
Duke said, "Even though we don't operate at present in France, we're observing how the French shop.
"The idea is to respect cultural differences," he explained. "We once made the mistake of trying to bring the US to Germany instead of adapting the format."
Indeed, even in America, territories remain which Walmart has yet to crack.
Duke went on to say that retail is in a transitional phase, and that e-commerce represents Walmart's single-biggest opportunity for improvement and expansion.
Doug McMillon will become the fifth CEO of Walmart when he succeeds Duke.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine by Peter Donnelly
