Will Walmart ever fail?

[kalvado]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

Ability to return is directly linked to the risk of goods not being a good fit for the purpose, and you writing them off. Depending on your shopping pattern, can be a big hit or not an issue
Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

[jeffandnicole]

Is it to a company's advantage or disadvantage, in terms of longevity, to operate a hundred zillion stores that are all basically the same?

Definitely an advantage. Compare it to the recent discussion of restaurants off highway exits: People look for something familiar. They are looking for the McDonalds and the Burger Kings.  They're not looking for an unfamiliar burger place...and the unfamiliar burger places aren't really looking for travelers from the highway. Sure - both will gladly accept each other, but overall people want to use what they already know.

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that Amazon will fail before Walmart.

I'll hang on that limb with you. Amazon is around because of the internet. Find something to replace the internet, and that will cause the downfall of Amazon.

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

Fully agreed. You get great customer service when buying really fancy shit you don't need. Certainly no value for a Lambo.

And even then, the salesperson may be the nicest person ever, but they'll lie to your face to get that sale.

[Max Rockatansky]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

Fully agreed. You get great customer service when buying really fancy shit you don't need. Certainly no value for a Lambo.

For me the value of buying at Walmart isn't outweighed by the hassle it is to shop there.  I rather pay nominally more to have an easier shopping experience and not be treated like a criminal like Walmart does to all their customers.  The slow cashiers and unresponsive staff drove me away from Walmart a long time ago, the security theater just affirms why I opt to stay away.  But those are all subjective measures, the average consumer might be willing to put up with more for perceived "value"  than I. 

[kphoger]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

[RoadWarrior56]

Probably Walmart won't fail.  But I am old enough to remember when both Sears and K-Mart had DOMINANT positions in the retail industry.  We all know how they ended up.

[Max Rockatansky]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

[MikieTimT]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

[Max Rockatansky]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

What makes you think I want to download apps for one time use over making a phone call?  I don't see why an employee couldn't be bothered to check a computer based inventory on-hand.  That's the same data your app is pulling information from.

[kphoger]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

What makes you think I want to download apps for one time use over making a phone call?

Same here.
I also don't have a smartphone anyway, so no app for me.

[Max Rockatansky]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

What makes you think I want to download apps for one time use over making a phone call?

Same here.
I also don't have a smartphone anyway, so no app for me.

I think that I have maybe two apps on my phone I downloaded?  There are mainly for doing stuff like posting things on Gribblenation's Facebook page. 

[kphoger]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

Fully agreed. You get great customer service when buying really fancy shit you don't need. Certainly no value for a Lambo.

And even then, the salesperson may be the nicest person ever, but they'll lie to your face to get that sale.

And lying to you would be bad customer service–but not because the Lambo isn't worth its price tag.  It isn't, of course, but that's a separate issue.

[Scott5114]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

I'd add to/clarify that list:
- ability to find items easily (either through sensible store layout or through easy access to staff members that can show me where something is)
- employee knowledge (I should be able to ask an employee which of two items is better suited for my application and they should at least have some sort of recommendation)
- employee competence (quick and efficient scanning and bagging of goods at checkout)

[Bruce]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

The app might show availability, but it's usually hours or days out of date and won't reflect what's actually on the shelves.

That said, phone calls do take a lot longer but at least they can be done while driving towards the store.

[formulanone]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

I've never called a Wal-Mart but they've never told me I couldn't return anything nor assume I'm a criminal (unexpected items in bagging area notwithstanding). The few times I've had to ask an employee for something, they've usually found it about half the time.

Everything gets surpassed one day. Foreign competition? A bigger and better mousetrap? Even lower prices? Drone delivery? Family winds up being related to the Duggars? Anything can happen...

[kalvado]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

The app might show availability, but it's usually hours or days out of date and won't reflect what's actually on the shelves.

That said, phone calls do take a lot longer but at least they can be done while driving towards the store.

Apps and web sites are using same database, and nobody will actually go and check things out in a bigger store. As for finding things, at least some stores show item location in the app and/or on the web. I don't know how well store folks know layout, those jobs are not a true career these days. There is certainly a chance they do, but not to fine details for uncommon items. 
Certainly, small hardware store are more likely to have handyman skills compared to Walmart.. .But that is not going for granted as well.

[kphoger]

All that is to say that Wal-Mart doesn't have the best customer service.  But that's not directly related to the value of the product itself that they sell.

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

[Max Rockatansky]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

The app might show availability, but it's usually hours or days out of date and won't reflect what's actually on the shelves.

That said, phone calls do take a lot longer but at least they can be done while driving towards the store.

From what limited experience I've seen with my wife using the Walmart pickup app it never seems to have on-hands up to date to current status.  She seemingly always has cancelled items or substitutions. 

[kalvado]

All that is to say that Wal-Mart doesn't have the best customer service.  But that's not directly related to the value of the product itself that they sell.

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

HD seems to have many more people working in specific areas, and actually much smaller assortment. Store may be equally large, but Walmart has nothing like stacks of drywall.

[kalvado]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

The app might show availability, but it's usually hours or days out of date and won't reflect what's actually on the shelves.

That said, phone calls do take a lot longer but at least they can be done while driving towards the store.

From what limited experience I've seen with my wife using the Walmart pickup app it never seems to have on-hands up to date to current status.  She seemingly always has cancelled items or substitutions.

Question is if inventory can be well maintained in a large self service store. Stollen, misplaced, or broken items must be a pain to account for.
I certainly have seen how shoppers, both kids and adults, contribute to the mess.

[Max Rockatansky]

Phone calls to walmart.. .Why?

I didn't mean Wal-Mart specifically.  I just mean that that's part of what "customer service" means to me.

But as to why I might call Wal-Mart...  to check their hours on a holiday, to ask the pharmacist a question about a prescription–I don't know, any number of reasons?

To see if something is in stock, for myself that has been the reason I've called a store about 80% of the time.

That's what the app is for.  Guess what whatever schmo that answers the phone is going to do themselves?  Hint, they aren't likely walking across the department to look at a shelf on your behalf.

The app might show availability, but it's usually hours or days out of date and won't reflect what's actually on the shelves.

That said, phone calls do take a lot longer but at least they can be done while driving towards the store.

From what limited experience I've seen with my wife using the Walmart pickup app it never seems to have on-hands up to date to current status.  She seemingly always has cancelled items or substitutions.

Question is if inventory can be well maintained in a large self service store. Stollen, misplaced, or broken items must be a pain to account for.
I certainly have seen how shoppers, both kids and adults, contribute to the mess.

The only true through way to do that is to conduct a full physical inventory and reset the on-hands.  Trouble is Big Box retailers only do that once annually.  If the theft, disposal, mispicks and whatever isn't kept in check the on-hands can have some massive variances.  The worst is most retailers running on assured receiving with their BOLs, that can cause massive issues on its own.

[Scott5114]

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

The way to do that is through specialization. If you have two people per shift running the sporting goods section and only the sporting goods section, then chances are pretty good those six people are going to get to know what they stock and what it can and can't be used for pretty damn well. And since it's a small team they're going to probably share what they learn with each other. True, they're going to be absolutely useless if you ask them questions about pet food, but they can find someone over in the pet department that can assuredly answer the question.

The problem is having 6 people per department ends up being way more expensive than modern retail wants to spend on it. So instead you end up with a team of 20-40 generalists. That way if the person assigned to sporting goods for the day calls in, they don't have to try to get a sporting goods staffer in, they can just move someone over from beauty supply or the men's underwear section. This results in employees who have a wide but shallow knowledge base.

[kphoger]

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

The way to do that is through specialization. If you have two people per shift running the sporting goods section and only the sporting goods section, then chances are pretty good those six people are going to get to know what they stock and what it can and can't be used for pretty damn well. And since it's a small team they're going to probably share what they learn with each other. True, they're going to be absolutely useless if you ask them questions about pet food, but they can find someone over in the pet department that can assuredly answer the question.

The problem is having 6 people per department ends up being way more expensive than modern retail wants to spend on it. So instead you end up with a team of 20-40 generalists. That way if the person assigned to sporting goods for the day calls in, they don't have to try to get a sporting goods staffer in, they can just move someone over from beauty supply or the men's underwear section. This results in employees who have a wide but shallow knowledge base.

But specialization requires hiring someone for that department who's already familiar with the sort of stuff to be found there.  When I got my first job at Target, I hired on with a retired gentleman who was getting a part-time job there to keep him occupied during retirement.  I don't know how much he knew about electronics, but I suspect it wasn't much more than any old Joe Schmoe off the street–yet that's the department he was assigned to.  How else would you do things at a large store like Target or Wal-Mart?  New hires are new hires, and you plug them in where you can.

[kalvado]

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

The way to do that is through specialization. If you have two people per shift running the sporting goods section and only the sporting goods section, then chances are pretty good those six people are going to get to know what they stock and what it can and can't be used for pretty damn well. And since it's a small team they're going to probably share what they learn with each other. True, they're going to be absolutely useless if you ask them questions about pet food, but they can find someone over in the pet department that can assuredly answer the question.

The problem is having 6 people per department ends up being way more expensive than modern retail wants to spend on it. So instead you end up with a team of 20-40 generalists. That way if the person assigned to sporting goods for the day calls in, they don't have to try to get a sporting goods staffer in, they can just move someone over from beauty supply or the men's underwear section. This results in employees who have a wide but shallow knowledge base.

But specialization requires hiring someone for that department who's already familiar with the sort of stuff to be found there.  When I got my first job at Target, I hired on with a retired gentleman who was getting a part-time job there to keep him occupied during retirement.  I don't know how much he knew about electronics, but I suspect it wasn't much more than any old Joe Schmoe off the street–yet that's the department he was assigned to.  How else would you do things at a large store like Target or Wal-Mart?  New hires are new hires, and you plug them in where you can.

And for Kalvado the customer this is more about being able to read and understand what I actually need vs paying extra for consulting by someone who may or may not understand my circumstances and may want to make a sale rather than actually help me. And whatever is said, mere interaction with the store guy creates some pressure to buy even if I am not getting the best match to my needs.
Actually that often makes Walmart preferred to, say, Best buy for me, and Amazon is even better if I can wait for delivery.

[Scott5114]

I'd say that a store the size of Wal-Mart can't reasonably have the level of customer service that would allow for an informed recommendation like what Scott described.  But then I realized that I've actually had decent luck with such questions at Home Depot, which is also a humongous chain store.

The way to do that is through specialization. If you have two people per shift running the sporting goods section and only the sporting goods section, then chances are pretty good those six people are going to get to know what they stock and what it can and can't be used for pretty damn well. And since it's a small team they're going to probably share what they learn with each other. True, they're going to be absolutely useless if you ask them questions about pet food, but they can find someone over in the pet department that can assuredly answer the question.

The problem is having 6 people per department ends up being way more expensive than modern retail wants to spend on it. So instead you end up with a team of 20-40 generalists. That way if the person assigned to sporting goods for the day calls in, they don't have to try to get a sporting goods staffer in, they can just move someone over from beauty supply or the men's underwear section. This results in employees who have a wide but shallow knowledge base.

But specialization requires hiring someone for that department who's already familiar with the sort of stuff to be found there.  When I got my first job at Target, I hired on with a retired gentleman who was getting a part-time job there to keep him occupied during retirement.  I don't know how much he knew about electronics, but I suspect it wasn't much more than any old Joe Schmoe off the street–yet that's the department he was assigned to.  How else would you do things at a large store like Target or Wal-Mart?  New hires are new hires, and you plug them in where you can.

Nobody comes into the world knowing anything about anything. If you are going to assign someone to a department, it is your responsibility as a business to make up the difference between "employee's current knowledge of that department" and "employee's ideal knowledge of that department". For whatever value of "ideal" your target customer base decides is necessary.

Investing in on-the-job training can make a real difference. Walmart knows exactly which products they sell, so they could put together a program teaching knowledge about these products to their employees. These days, videos could even be recorded in Bentonville and distributed to every store, and periodically shown to existing employees as a refresher course.

No, this isn't cheap, but, hell, the casino I worked at could manage it for the really important stuff like anti-money-laundering training. I'm sure Walmart could probably do it more efficiently and cheaper, especially amortized over how many employees they have. (And to my understanding, they already make them watch anti-union videos with some regularity anyway, so it'd be nice if they used the infrastructure in place for that to actually benefit the customers...)

In the 2008 recession, companies (not just Walmart) got really bad about demanding applicants already be the perfect manifestation of the position they were hired for with no training at all. They had that luxury back then, because there were enough applicants for each job position that they could afford to pick and choose. They got used to that way of operating, because it's cheaper for someone else to train them. But now the situation is coming back around where you are getting enough raw, untrained applicants that on-the-job training is going to make or break a candidate's success in the position.

And for Kalvado the customer this is more about being able to read and understand what I actually need vs paying extra for consulting by someone who may or may not understand my circumstances and may want to make a sale rather than actually help me.

I don't think you have to worry about anyone at Walmart ever giving a damn about whether they make a sale or not. Enough people come through spending $200 on groceries every week that their jobs will never be in jeopardy if they fail to sell someone a vacuum. They don't work on commission and they can't accept tips, so nothing about that interaction affects them financially.

The retail clerk's incentive is to escape the interaction as quickly as possible, so that they can return to their non-customer-service duties (which, if they don't complete, they will get in trouble for and/or be unable to go home on time ), and to minimize the amount of time they're exposed to the customer, who is an unknown quantity that may turn volatile at any moment and find some reason to cause trouble with management. If "Nope, we don't have anything like that" is the answer that gets them out of that interaction the fastest, that's the one they'll give, even if it costs the company a sale.

[jeffandnicole]

Nobody comes into the world knowing anything about anything. If you are going to assign someone to a department, it is your responsibility as a business to make up the difference between "employee's current knowledge of that department" and "employee's ideal knowledge of that department". For whatever value of "ideal" your target customer base decides is necessary.

Investing in on-the-job training can make a real difference. Walmart knows exactly which products they sell, so they could put together a program teaching knowledge about these products to their employees.

Walmart probably doesn't give much training about particular products...and most of the customers within the stores are conditioned not to expect much in the way of advice at a Walmart.  After all, Walmart isn't usually advertising personalized customer service; they're advertising low prices. Walmart is probably more concerned in security procedures such as their locked cases and how to deal with a customer that wants something from that case.

No, this isn't cheap, but, hell, the casino I worked at could manage it for the really important stuff like anti-money-laundering training. I'm sure Walmart could probably do it more efficiently and cheaper, especially amortized over how many employees they have. (And to my understanding, they already make them watch anti-union videos with some regularity anyway, so it'd be nice if they used the infrastructure in place for that to actually benefit the customers...)

There's a bit of a difference between money laundrying, which could cost a casino hundreds of thousands of dollars if not detected quickly, and not knowing if a TV has a particular function, if a bat is the right size for a little leaguer, or which hammer would be the correct hammer for a homeowner, which would potentionally piss off a consumer, whom will probably return to Walmart anyway for their next purchase.