C Paper | The Wal-Mart Experience | – March 31, 2013 |

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Recognized across the United States as a monopoly Wal-Mart dominates as the retail market with a far advantage. Well known for their “roll back” prices and friendly service Wal-Mart is the general public’s one stop shop for all your shopping needs. Wal-Mart has truly found their success in the American market place as a retail giant. Almost all Americans have shopped in Wal-Mart once in their lives and are usually located around every corner. Wal-Mart is now the nineteenth largest economy in the world, with sales exceeding $250 billion. With over 1.3 million employees, Wal-Mart is now the world’s largest employer. (Adler, 2008) In the past fourteen years Wal-Mart International has grown into a $63 billion business. (Barbaro, 2006) Though, Wal-Mart failed to capture the retail market in Germany. How could a successful National level business such as Wal-Mart not succeed? The usual Wal-Mart experience starts when you walk right through the door. Right as you enter the door you are greeted by one of Wal-Mart’s famous “greeters” with a friendly smile and “hello, how are you?” This does not faze the American shoppers as it is common knowledge that this is what to expect. Throughout your shopping experience Wal-Mart has tried to make your shopping experience as simple as possible. You might be shopping for several unrelated items but could most likely find them all under Wal-Mart’s roof. They pride themselves in their low prices and ability to be your go to place for all your needs. Throughout your shopping you’ll find all items grouped in categories such as: household, groceries, automotive, electronics, toys, clothes, etc. Wal-Mart has transformed their layout to help you find your items as easy as possible while you are even approached in isles by employees asking if you need any assistance. Once you have your items there are a team of friendly cashiers and baggers located at the front of the store to help with your check-out needs. This sounds like a great experience! What would anyone not like about this shopping experience? Wal-Mart’s model for success and thriving business led them to open stores across the world. Wal-Mart found themselves in a culture shock when their repetitive success formula did not reproduce well in Germany. The German shopping customers did not take a liking to the Wal-Mart shopping experience. The German shoppers found the employee’s friendliness and helpfulness unusual and must have underlying reasoning such as a sale pitch. Germans see themselves as Individualist primarily taking care of themselves. So when the shoppers were approached with help from employees, cashiers, and baggers, the resisted. Trying to gain back the German shoppers Wal-Mart lowered their prices even lower. Lowered prices benefited the German customers because it then only caused competitors in the market to do the same. At this point Germany’s government had to step in when the prices on staples were below cost. (Rubin, 2001) Prices then rose back to normal; Wal-Mart would have to find another approach. Wal-Mart’s advantage in most markets is to be the retail giant; this was another struggle in Germany. Wal-Mart’s plans to open 50 new stores came to a halt when Germany’s government prohibited the action. Wal-Mart has since then opened only 2 new stores due to the protection Germany’s government limits on hypermarkets to protect their small businesses. The employee’s friendliness wasn’t Wal-Mart’s only problem with employees. Wal-Mart distributed German translated code of ethics. Sources of misinterpretation of the code started when the employee’s interrupted a caution against supervisor-employee relationships as a “puritanical ban on interoffice romance, while a call to report improper behavior was taken as an invitation to rat on co-workers” according to Business Week. (BloombergBusinessWeek, 2005) To Wal-Mart’s