Business

Wal-Mart Seeks Assist from its Suppliers to Lower Prices

Published

9 years ago

April 2, 2015

This May 28, 2013, file photo, shows a sign outside a Wal-mart store in Duarte, Calif. Wal-Mart on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 said it is launching a mobile checking account for its customers that will eliminate some of the fees charged by banks. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart is asking suppliers to cut back on advertising spending in its stores as it seeks lower prices on goods that it sells to its own customers.

The request comes as the world’s largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, looks to reclaim its position as the low-price leader amid stiff competition and perk up sluggish sales in the U.S.

Historically, makers of consumer products like laundry detergent devote a portion of their budget to market their products at Wal-Mart whether it’s online advertising on social media or store displays. Wal-Mart executives told suppliers in February they would rather have them reinvest some of that money.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s actions were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Deisha Barnett, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, confirmed the strategy and said that the discounter has made that request in the past but described the recent overture as more of a “reinvigorated focus.”

Wal-Mart updated investors Wednesday on how it planned to reduce prices while revving up its assortment and improving the experience of shoppers by the holiday 2015 shopping season, the most important period for a retailer. The actions are being spearheaded by Greg Foran who last summer became CEO of Wal-Mart’s U.S. business, which accounts for 60 percent of its total sales.

“We want this year to be the year of improving our stores,” Foran told investors.

Foran, who had been president and CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, has been dissecting every part of the business, from improving the freshness of the produce to making sure merchandise is being unloaded onto the selling floor, instead of having it pile up in the backroom.

Among other measures it outlined Wednesday: reducing the price of products nearing their expiration date, a strategy it believes alone will save $500 million annually. The company said that it’s also looking at how it sources it products so it can reduce prices, particularly as commodity prices fall.

When asked about the latest development with suppliers, Foran just said that the company, which operates more than 4,500 Wal-Mart stores, has always negotiated the best price and passes those prices to customers.

Wal-Mart has acknowledged that it took some steps to increase productivity like reducing labor in the stores that ended up backfiring. But the company is working to rectify that issue. In February, it announced that it was raising the starting wage to at least $10 by February 2016 and improving its training for its hourly workers. It also said it was bringing back the department manager to be in charge of one specific area of merchandise.

Wal-Mart eked out two quarters of consecutive revenue increases at stores opened at least a year in the U.S, after seven quarters of declines.

Shares fell $1.44, or nearly 2 percent, to $80.81 in afternoon trading Wednesday.

__________

Follow Anne D’Innocenzio at http://www.Twitter.com/adinnocenzio

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Business

V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans

Speaking in Las Vegas on Jan. 27, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a forthcoming federal rule that will extend access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to Americans who have been convicted of felonies but have served their time. Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

On her daylong trip, Harris was joined by Horford, SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, Interim Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Eric Morrissette, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev).

By California Black Media

Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Harris thanked U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV-04), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for the work he has done in Washington to support small businesses and to invest in people.

“He and I spent some time this afternoon with business leaders and small business leaders here in Nevada. The work you have been doing to invest in community and to invest in the ambition and natural capacity of communities has been exceptional,” Harris said, speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people at the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall in East Las Vegas.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant barriers to economic opportunity once they leave prison and return to the community, with an unemployment rate among the population of more than 27%,” the White House press release continued. “Today’s announcement builds on the Vice President’s work to increase access to capital. Research finds that entrepreneurship can reduce recidivism for unemployed formerly incarcerated individuals by as much as 30%.”

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G.O.P. Lawmakers: Repeal AB 5 and Resist Nationalization of “Disastrous” Contractor Law

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

File Photo: Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City)

By California Black Media

Republican lawmakers gathered outside of the Employee Development Department in Sacramento on Jan. 23 to call for the repeal of AB5, the five-year old California law that reclassified gig workers and other independent contractors as W-2 employees under the state’s labor code.
Organizers said they also held the rally to push back against current efforts in Washington to pass a similar federal law.

“We are here to talk about this very important issue – a battle we have fought for many years – to stop this disastrous AB 5 policy,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).
Now, that threat has gone national as we have seen this new rule being pushed out of the Biden administration,” Gallagher continued.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new rule providing guidance on “on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).”
“This final rule rescinds the Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule (2021 IC Rule), that was published on January 7, 2021, and replaces it with an analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status that is more consistent with the FLSA as interpreted by longstanding judicial precedent,” a Department of Labor statement reads.
U.S. Congressmember Kevin Kiley (R-CA-3), who is a former California Assemblymember, spoke at the rally.

“We are here today to warn against the nationalization of one of the worst laws that has ever been passed in California, which has devastated the livelihoods of folks in over 600 professions,” said Kiley, adding that the law has led to a 10.5% decline in self-employment in California.

Kiley blamed U.S Acting Secretary of Labor, July Su, who was the former secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for leading the effort to redefine “contract workers” at the federal level.
Kiley said two separate lawsuits have been filed against Su’s Rule – its constitutionality and the way it was enacted, respectively. He said he is also working on legislation in Congress that puts restrictions on the creation and implementation of executive branch decisions like Su’s.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) announced that she plans to introduce legislation to repeal AB 5 during the current legislative session.

“So many working moms like myself, who are also raising kids, managing households, were devastated by the effects of AB 5 because they lost access to hundreds of flexible professions,” Sanchez continued. “I’ve been told by many of these women that they have lost their livelihoods as bookkeepers, artists, family caregivers, designers, and hairstylists because of this destructive law.”