Recommendations

There have been various complaints filed regarding Walmart’s inability to adequately conduct business and meet the needs of its’ customers. Of the many problems, the ones that reoccurred the most are; the check out process, quality of goods provided, the organization or lack thereof, and a lack of consistency in maintaining inventory. Problems of this magnitude can be very detrimental to a company if not properly mitigated. The recommendations listed below are specifically intended to be easily and readily applied, and able to significantly decrease the lack of satisfaction and consistency within Walmart, Inc.

Check Out Process

Walmart is a service and product based company, however regardless of what the customer is in need of, there will come a time for the customer to make a purchase. Due to the sheer size and brand recognition of the company, among other reasons, vast amounts of customers are drawn to Walmart. Often times they will come at particular points throughout a given day. Consequently, there are specified rush periods and slow periods that occur systematic within the store. To limit or potentially eliminate the problems of long lines and wasted time that are associated with the checkout process, Walmart can either schedule more employees to work during these periods, which is self explanatory. Or Walmart can increase customer involvement by adding more self-checkout cashier machines. By doing so, wait time can be dramatically decreased in stores with high levels of the complaint of wasted time. Also jobs can consequently be created or eliminated as needed. The most efficient way to implement a self-checkout cashier machines to ensure less waiting and wasted time, would be to use the Poka-Yoke system. Meaning the registers must be designed in such a way that the customer cannot make mistakes while checking their items out thus spending less time. By having pictures appear on the register of what is ordered, the customer will have a clear understanding of exactly what they are purchasing. This understanding will decrease the time for the checkout process and increase the overall level of customer satisfaction for Walmart.

Managing Inventory

Another problem is attributable to Walmart’s current inventory management system. The problem is the company's inability to effectively restock its inventory from the back rooms. After a restricted and non comprehensive process analysis of how Walmart; obtains, prepares, distributes, and discards its inventory we acquired the following information.
Walmart first contacts it’s vendors and suppliers based on need, customer demand, and historic forecasting strategies. Upon receiving the packages, Walmart files the goods through its’ inventory management database and proceeds to stock the goods on the shelves. Customers will then search, find, and purchase the goods within a specified period of time. Finally, any unused, or unsold goods are discarded. This current process, although successful, is coupled with inventory shrinkage, large amounts of wasted inventory, as well as the company too frequently being out of stock. As a disclaimer this process analysis is based off a single individuals findings and is merely an overview of Walmart's inventory management system. Unequivocally Walmart uses a significantly more intricate process. However for the purposes of this report, we will elaborate based off our restricted research.
The recommended solution is for Walmart to begin implementing price markdowns to decrease the amount of inventory shrinkage and wasted inventory consequent of its current practices. For instance, when a product has an expiration date, there is a finite amount of time that that product has to be purchased by a given customer(s). If the good goes un-purchased, the company takes a 100% loss on it’s initial investment on revenue. To mitigate the risk of losing revenue, Walmart can mark down the price of products nearing their expiration date, thereby reducing the amount of inventory that goes to waste.
This recommendation of in essence, creating a leaner system still cannot completely solve the problem of wasted inventory as it is not yet feasible to calculate the exact amount of customer demand for every product or good the company offers.

However, this contrary position can become an opportunity for Walmart to gain a significant amount of publicity. Although no retail grocery store has successfully created and implemented a formula or algorithm to calculate exact amounts of inventory needed, Walmart can distinguish itself by implementing a significant aspect of philanthropy. If goods are nearing their expiration date, and little to none have been purchased by a certain point, Walmart can donate a portion of these soon to be expired goods to local non-profit organizations in a collective effort to prevent total waste. By donating these goods, Walmart receives multiple non monetary incentives including; relationships with local residents and those receiving any benefit from these donations. Positive publicity from the press, and from a plethora of other media outlets. An amplified reputation as an organization who cares for its community, those less fortunate, and society as a whole. As well as possible state and local tax exemptions.

By implementing these various recommendations, Walmart can increase its levels of production and efficiency. These recommendations are not guaranteed to immediately solve each issue related to the company. However if properly executed, these recommendations can increase profitability.