(Caption: File photo taken on Sept. 30, 2011 shows a customer walk past the gate of a Wal-Mart store in Chongqing Municipality. Xinhua/Li Jian)
BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Fondling the fish at the supermarket is not the convention in home markets in the United States, but Chinese consumers can freely sift through piles of fish at Wal-Mart, after the world's biggest retailer learned to adapt over the years from missteps in China.
Shoppers in more than 400 Wal-Mart stores in China can check on the fish's freshness before they decide to buy, as in other stores operated by local and overseas retailers. Food business is crucial for Wal-Mart, as shoppers buy groceries more often than anything else. If Wal-Mart can get them in the door to buy food regularly, perhaps they will visit more frequently for items like pajamas and coffee makers.
This is only one example of how the Arkansas-based company win over Chinese consumers in a bid to seek overseas success. China is not America, and the U.S. company has to shed some of its American ways and cater to very different customs and conventions in local markets, given that the U.S. market is suffering from intense competition and the retailer is depending more on operations overseas.
China is the answer to Wal-Mart's many problems. The Chinese grocery market, valued at 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars a year, already the world's largest, could grow to 1.5 trillion dollars in just the next four years, according to IGD, a global consumer product research firm.
"China remains a strategic market for our future," Doug McMillon, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has told investors.
A woman chooses vegetables inside a supermarket in Baoding City, north China's Hebei Province, April 10, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhu Xudong)
In terms of cutting supplier costs, Wal-Mart is also trying the Chinese way.
In America, Wal-Mart has much power to force supplier to cut costs, as it accounts for a staggering 25 percent of the U.S. grocery business. The suppliers in return enjoy steady demand from Wal-Mart.
In China, however, things are much tougher. Wal-Mart accounts for a mere 2.3 percent of the grocery market, with 95 percent of all products supplied by local companies.
In addition, the local supply chain is known for inefficiency. Instead of facing directly with suppliers, retailers work mostly through a labyrinth of middlemen.
Over the years, Wal-Mart has managed to eliminate the go-betweens and negotiate directly with suppliers, knocking down costs as much as 10 percent. The change also gives the retailer more control over the quality of the food.
Consumers choose and buy commodities at Wal-Mart's first store in Shanghai, east China, July 28, 2005. Wal-Mart opened its first store in the Chinese economic hub July 28. (Xinhua photo/Chen Fei)
It has planned to open 115 new stores in China by 2017, concentrating on established markets, including its stronghold in the south.
Despite the effort, Wal-Mart faces another challenge in China. Shoppers increasingly buy online or at small stores, especially so in China. It has already overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest online marketplace.
