BENTONVILLE, Ark. (TB&P) — Retail is a detailed business, and even though online sales growth is eclipsing brick-and-mortar, the physical store has likely never been more important, according to Andy Wilson, retired Walmart executive.
“Walking a Walmart Supercenter never gets old,” Wilson said during a recent walk he made in Fayetteville.
“If you want to know your business well, you have to read your stores, and that is exactly what Sam Walton did.”
Wilson said walking a store is what retailers do. He spent many years traveling with Walton doing just that, walking not only Walmart stores, but also the stores of the company’s closest competitors.
“We could spend a half-hour outside the [Walmart] store, driving around back and checking for cleanliness and ensuring trucks could easily get to the back door,” Wilson said.
“He would often ring the back doorbell and then see how long it took for an associate to answer. This was his way of making sure truckers didn’t have to wait when they pulled into the lot. He knew this was a complaint made by truckers, and that is how he solved the issue.”
To read more, visit Talk Business & Politics.
