Interesting story in this morning's Internet Retailer newsletter. Walmart.com is going to become a much stronger online player, but their business may look different than many of the other majors. With their store count and foot traffic so high, they are in a unique position to use their web site to generate in-store purchases (and vice versa).
The fact that you can return Walmart.com purchases to Wal-Mart stores also increases store visits and online consumer confidence. They are well ahead of the pack on this. They also run their own site and thus control their own destiny more readily than many other retailers. Target and Toys R Us, for instance, depend on their partnerships with Amazon.com.
Wal-Mart suppliers would do well to pursue programs that 1) convert online success with Walmart.com into store listings, and 2) encourage in-store programs that promote products that are only available at Walmart.com. Multi-channel marketing at its best!
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Key Life
I just received my first CD from Key Life. I signed up to receive them a few weeks ago. Steve Brown is a wonderful teacher. Down to earth. Real. Biblical. Personal. From the CD, it sounds like he's a fellow pipe smoker too! Steve's messages are one of the few things connecting with me lately.
D-Mac's Comments on Wal-Mart Credit Card Figures
Wow, a comment on one of my posts! That's really something. (OK, I confess -- it's from a family member. Don't burst my bubble.)
Actually, Sam's does accept one credit card: Discover. Costco only accepts Amex. BJ's accepts all four major cards. The figures I was given were for Wal-Mart stores only; Sam's was not included in the calculation. (Incidentally, the average Sam's Club customer is _much_ more affluent than the typical Wal-Mart customer. I don't remember the difference in income level, but I was really surprised when I heard it.)
I did some more poking around for credit card ownership rates. The most recent data I could find indicated that the average American holds seven credit cards, which includes department store and oil company cards. I also found a slightly older reference to the total number of people carrying cards that put the number just over 200 million. That's in the ballpark with the 190 million I quoted earlier. (Sorry I don't have any supporting links. I was on the job and didn't have time to copy them. I think I found most of the info on Cardweb.com.)
Wal-Mart does not accept MasterCard debit cards. They do take Visa debit cards, though. I witnessed an "associate" explaining this to a customer last week. I am not sure about Sam's and debit cards. (I've never used a debit card in my life -- I wonder what the debit card demographics look like.)
Regardless of the figures, I am still amazed that half of Wal-Mart's customer's don't have credit cards.
At 6/2/2004 09:24:01 PM, D-Mac said...
Hey Rob. Sam's club only takes debit cards. WalMart had that anti-trust suit against MC/Visa a while back. Pretty viscious, which is why Sam's only take debit. Cuts out the merchant Fee. That probably explains part of the quirk. Also, the average American has 4 credit cards. So the statistics are probably off. It may only be 50 million people that actually have cards, it is just multiple cards.
Actually, Sam's does accept one credit card: Discover. Costco only accepts Amex. BJ's accepts all four major cards. The figures I was given were for Wal-Mart stores only; Sam's was not included in the calculation. (Incidentally, the average Sam's Club customer is _much_ more affluent than the typical Wal-Mart customer. I don't remember the difference in income level, but I was really surprised when I heard it.)
I did some more poking around for credit card ownership rates. The most recent data I could find indicated that the average American holds seven credit cards, which includes department store and oil company cards. I also found a slightly older reference to the total number of people carrying cards that put the number just over 200 million. That's in the ballpark with the 190 million I quoted earlier. (Sorry I don't have any supporting links. I was on the job and didn't have time to copy them. I think I found most of the info on Cardweb.com.)
Wal-Mart does not accept MasterCard debit cards. They do take Visa debit cards, though. I witnessed an "associate" explaining this to a customer last week. I am not sure about Sam's and debit cards. (I've never used a debit card in my life -- I wonder what the debit card demographics look like.)
Regardless of the figures, I am still amazed that half of Wal-Mart's customer's don't have credit cards.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Great Resource for Economics Info
Being the information junkie that I am, I felt like a kid in a candy store when I re-discovered Ed Yardeni's research site. (The link is in the upper right corner of the page.) The Consumer Handbook (With Baby Boom Charts) is particularly interesting from a marketing standpoint, and it is updated monthly.
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