Wal-Marts Marketplace Clout Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wal-Marts Marketplace Clout - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Wal-Mart’s marketplace clout is tremendous. It controls about 30 percent of the household’s staples market. It sells 15 percent of all magazines and 15-20 percent of all CDs, DVDs, and videos. It is expected to soon control over 35 percent of U.S food sales. Wal-Mart has risen to dominate the retail market through the bargain prices it offers to consumers. Due to its cost efficiencies, it has attained and the pressure it places on suppliers make it affordable to give customers products at low prices. As much as Wal-Mart offers low prices, not everyone loves it. It also has charges that criticize the retail behemoth. One, Wal-Mart’s buying power and cost-saving efficiencies force local rivals out of business, in turn disrupting local communities, costing jobs and injuring established business districts. Second, Wal-Mart pays low wages and is staunchly anti-union. Its labor cost is 20 percent lower than that of unioniz ed supermarkets. Moreover, its hard-line on costs has forced many factories to move overseas, resulting in sacrificing American jobs and thus, holds wages down. Government welfare program subsidizes Wal-Mart’s poverty level wages. One congressional report shows that a two hundred employee store costs the government a fortune that is: housing assistance, children healthcare, and tax credits are paid by the government. Lastly, as Wal-Mart grows and its competitors fall by the wayside, consumer’s choice narrows and the retail exert even greater power as a cultural censor. For instance; Wal-Mart won’t carry computer games and music with the mature rating. Therefore, the big music companies supply it with sanitized versions of explicit CDs that they supply to the radio stations, and that are sold elsewhere. The retailer has also removed racy magazines, such as FHM and Maxim, from its racks and it obscures the cover of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook.