Interpreting the "four thoughts" of Wal Mart China President on the transformation and upgrading of physical retail

At the recent new consumption Forum Series summit held by China Chain Management Association , President and CEO of Wal Mart China 、 Ms. zhuxiaojing, vice president of China Chain Management Association, delivered a speech ：《 In the transformation and upgrading of physical retail , It's hard to do the right thing 》（ Click the title of the article to view the full text of the speech ）.

As CCFA（ China Chain Association ） Our guest consultants and early employees of Wal Mart （04～07）, I studied deeply and seriously .

This article attempts to make some interpretation of this speech , It is hoped that it can be used as a reference for the physical retail enterprises that are undergoing digital transformation and upgrading or preparing for transformation and upgrading .

Think about a 、 from penetration to turn to loyalty

The speech begins with an important thought , It is also a prediction of the development of China's retail industry in the next decade ： That's from penetration to turn to loyalty.

We think , The next ten years , Keywords will be from penetration That is, coverage , to turn to loyalty That is, the ability to obtain and retain customers . That means , Need to return to the nature of business , Truly customer-centric , Reconstruct the business model of the entity supermarket , Create distinctive features . There's a trade-off , Make a choice , This is our first thought in the transformation and upgrading of physical retail .

This is what we often say ： The bonus period ends , The retail industry has entered the stage of refined operation .

The traditional retail industry, which focuses on offline stores , The core of the business model is “ Open a shop quickly ” Ability . This capability was not the case in the early days of Wal Mart China .

Remember clearly ,04 year 11 When I first entered Wal Mart's headquarters in Shenzhen, China in January , Only two stores were opened that year .

Where I am 04～07 year , The speed of opening a shop is not fast , With 06 After the change of president and the acquisition of many friends in China , Wal Mart's store opening in China has been accelerating .

12 In, I talked with my former colleagues about how Wal Mart China can open four stores a day , I really feel that my old club has made great efforts .

If Wal Mart China is aware that the rapid and large-scale opening of stores is not suitable for the Chinese retail industry , that , It is necessary to arouse the vigilance of those retail enterprises who are used to obtaining sales growth through rapid and large-scale opening of stores .

Think about the second 、Who-What-How

Set the time → Predict trends → Raise questions → Then there is methodology and practice , This is the way of thinking and behavior that Wal Mart has always emphasized , It is also reflected in this speech .

therefore , The second thought in the speech is Wal Mart's problems and methodology in the transformation and upgrading period .

How to make a choice , Make a choice ？ How to restructure the business model ？ This is our second thought , We have a Who-What-How The thinking framework of . Who, Think about who we are focusing on ？ With the consumption classification 、 The rise of personalized consumption , The specific features of different consumer groups are gradually clear , The difference in demand is becoming more and more obvious . therefore , First of all, we need to know which group we are aiming to serve . What, Be good at foresight and insight into what kind of consumer demand this group has . We need to think more about what are the essential requirements ;  What are the potential demands , Not fully satisfied ; We should also soberly learn to weigh these needs . Last , What capabilities do we need to build to better serve these core needs of consumers , This is it. How.How Is the most important of the three , But it's also the hardest .……

in my opinion , China's retail e-commerce enterprises are also constantly establishing such thinking and behavior patterns , Most of them have their own methodology and practice .

It is easier to know than to do , Keep your original mind , Wal Mart has really achieved the ultimate in enduring loneliness .

In addition to the low-key development of Sam's Club , The speech also mentioned “ The detour we took ” and “ Adjust accordingly ”：

Sam used to be for a long time ,Who、What、How It's not clear enough . There was a time when we presented to consumers , It was also a SKU Over ten thousand department stores ; There was also an episode in which individual Sam's stores were transformed into hypermarkets . （ Zhuangshuizhu ： When I was there , I remember changing Sam's stores into Wal Mart stores in three cities ）

Keeping a low profile is not intentional , This is part of Wal Mart's corporate culture .

It makes us clearly realize , As an ordinary person , I'm sure I'll keep making mistakes , But don't be afraid to make mistakes , As long as we focus on the concept of serving consumers , Continuous improvement and persistence , Will be recognized and developed .

The development data and time of Sam's Club mentioned in the speech are Wal Mart's corporate culture 、 The common result of values and business operation ：

ad locum , I'm very happy to tell you , Now Sam has paid more than 400 ten thousand . 25 Over the years , We spent it. 21 Make the first in 100 Ten thousand members . the second 100 Ten thousand members , It took three years . To the birth of the third 、 The fourth one 100 Ten thousand members , It only took a few months .

25 Years of time , In the enterprise , Basically, it needs the efforts of at least three generations of executives and employees .

Think of three 、 Form a supplier cooperation mode with mutual achievements

In the Wal mart system ,“ Supply zero relationship ”（ Relationship between suppliers and retailers ） Is the best I have ever met “ Each achievement ” Of .

The speech cited the example of Sam's procurement department and supplier cooperation mode , You can do some understanding ：

I take Sam's zero supply relationship as an example . Sam's 4000 Of the more than products , Most of them are purchased in China . Many of these products , Developed by Sam and local suppliers 、 Collaboration . Sam's buyers , It is not simple to change the goods from the origin “ Physical handling ” Come back . We strive to create differentiated “ Sam standard ”. If the quality of commodities and raw materials on the market cannot meet the needs of members , We will seek to set new commodity standards , Work with R & D capable suppliers , Joint research and development 、 iteration “ Sam standard ” New products . Through a series of such creative cooperation , We are on the supply side ： Do what we can , Enabling the optimization and upgrading of relevant supply chains , Continuously improve the overall competitiveness of local suppliers ; On the demand side ： Provide a new member experience , more 、 The choice of products with higher membership value .

Although I was in the marketing department of the headquarters , But the work content is most closely related to the procurement department , So I have the opportunity to participate in some meetings and trainings between them and suppliers .

What impressed me most was the weekly meeting established by Wal Mart's purchasing department and suppliers （ train ） The system ：

There is a special conference room in Shenzhen headquarters , Every week, suppliers come to attend various trainings , Sometimes it's Wal Mart training suppliers , Sometimes it's suppliers who train Wal Mart .

Wal Mart's corporate culture and values , From “ On ” and “ virtual ” Part of , Keep going “ Next ” Fall to the specific “ real ” In fact .

So Wal Mart is in the relationship with suppliers , In addition to a “ Each achievement ” Beyond the statement of , There will be many corresponding practices and continuous assessment , In the daily management and work of each senior manager and employee, keep asking questions and making corresponding relations ：

“ Will this benefit the supplier ？”、“ Suppliers' products can make Wal Mart / Sam's customers / Is the member experience better ？”……

All kinds of thinking and corresponding discussions are triggered in the work , Then there is the specific implementation . If you don't get and “ Each achievement ” The answer is yes , Later execution usually does not go on .

In addition, Wal Mart is a “ Very strict with rules and principles ” Our retailers , for instance ：

The marketing department of the headquarters will produce a lot of printed materials for in store publicity , The settlement with the supplier will be carried out according to the process agreed by both parties in advance .

However, some suppliers fail to follow the agreed process when making final payment , Then these suppliers always want to use special methods or processes to achieve rapid settlement .

After several repetitions , They found that following the process , Instead, the payment for goods will be completed within the contract period , And do not spend other additional thoughts and costs , Save effort and worry .

What's interesting is that , When I was in the marketing department of Wal Mart China headquarters , They also often urge suppliers to settle accounts on schedule .

This is because , In addition to Wal Mart's corporate culture and values , There is also a powerful “Retailink”（ Retail chain ） Of ERP System , If a supplier fails to settle the payment on time , The system will prompt .

Think about the four ： Retail is a combination of art and science , People are the core

Three dimensions of retail industry ： people 、 cargo 、 site .

During my research and understanding of the industry for more than ten years , I found many local retail enterprises in China （ Including e-commerce platform ）, More just in “ Freight and freight yard ” Dimensions .

Yes “ people ” The in-depth study and understanding of , Including e-commerce platforms with massive user data .

Especially in the membership business ,“ people ” The weight of is very high .

Of course , there “ people ” In addition to consumers , It also includes suppliers and internal employees .

So in the fourth digital upgrade of speech sharing , Keep mentioning “ staff 、 technological process 、 personnel 、 Organization and culture ”：

Comprehensive digital upgrade , Extremely important , On the basis of digital infrastructure , Building data assets , Build digital management ability and operation ability , It can greatly reduce cost and increase efficiency , Deepen our links with customers and employees . But digitalization is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for success . For retailers , Digitalization is a core competency , Is not the goal . people , Always is the key . Transformation and upgrading of the retail industry , In the end, it is up to people to do it . This requires top-level design , Refactor the business model 、 Manage processes and organizational settings , And management is more responsible , The role of service-oriented leadership , Let ordinary colleagues work together to create extraordinary . Since last year , Wal Mart China has launched its overall core strategy , We focus our strategy in three directions ： Differentiated commodity power 、 Improve end-to-end efficiency 、 Omni channel experience . meanwhile , Focus on improving the support of two core competencies ： Digital upgrade ; personnel / organization / Culture .

in my opinion , In addition to the business operation of Wal Mart 、 System management 、 Supply chain and other important retail power , What is more important is to have a strong organization and truly achieve “ people oriented ” Corporate culture of .

In the short three years of working in Wal Mart China headquarters , I have many feelings and experiences about the organization and corporate culture of this company , I think this is the real reason why Wal Mart can constantly transform and upgrade its retail industry in response to the drastic changes “ Hard core capability ”！

Once again, I'd like to present it to you for publication in 【 Wal Mart China 】 The full text of the official speech ：《 In the transformation and upgrading of physical retail , It's hard to do the right thing 》（ Click the title of the article to view the full text of the speech ）.