Walmart has been around for many years and have really set the standard for what retail stores can accomplish, if they stick to a solid business model and strategy. Walmart was founded as a traditional, off-line, physical store in 1962, and that’s still what it does best (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). At the time Walmart was founded there was no online shopping, so people had to go into the stores after receiving their flyers in the mail. This made Walmart one of the most successful retail stores ever, as people would flock to the stores to purchase items. Walmart has been synonymous with people for decades and they are still going strong today. Walmart is the world’s largest and most successful retailer, with $476 billion in fiscal 2014 sales and …show more content…
Amazon started their business online, thus gaining every advantage from IT is not new to them. Walmart and their physical stores demand people actually walking in to make a profit. In today’s society more than 3 billion people have access to the internet. Walmart would never be able to build enough physical stores to capture what the internet can. Smart phones and devices give consumers unprecedented access to shopping anywhere in the world. Amazon loves this and they do a great job to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible. Where there is IT, there are IT professionals to ensure all the systems are working properly. Logistics takes a lot of IT to ensure people get what they are and on time. Servers, data processors, and inventory programs, must all be monitored by IT professionals. IT professionals must ensure both companies have the best technology available to support their …show more content…
The founder wanted to reach people all over the world to take advantage of online shoppers. His theory of online shopping being successful was right on point. Information technology propelled him in a position to compete with one of the largest retail chains in the world. Walmart was established decades before Amazon and the internet and as a result was reluctant to update their IT. Walmart depended upon their physical locations to keep them relevant, and it did, but not on the level that Amazon is becoming with online shoppers. As Amazon’s success continued, Walmart had no choice but to invest heavily in technology to solidify their place atop the retail industry. Amazon is now a household name just as Walmart is, and IT is one of the number reasons for