And they expect the supplier to have the inventory IN STOCK. So the
supplier has to carry the cost and risk of the inventory.

Tim Killian wrote:

WM spends $25bn a year on a computer system that tracks inventory and
sales trends in real time -- that is why they are so successful. They
save big money on the fact that a large chunk of their inventory never
sees a warehouse, it's in a trailer en route from the port to a store.
Something like 70% of their stuff is sold to a customer before they pay
the bill to their supplier!

There is no way a small retailer can compete with that kind of
efficiency, and that is why most eventually fail when WM comes to town.


carl mciver wrote:

It has always been my impression that each Walmart store carries what
sells in each region. You don't see swamp coolers for sale here in the
Pacific Northwest (although Home Depot did try and sell them!) Each
store
and its management troll for considerable time over sales data trying
to get

...