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BEYOND E-COMMERCE, RETAIL DEMANDS OMNICHANNEL APPROACH CARLOS ARROYO Senior Vice President and COO of Walmart de México y Centroamérica (Walmex)
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Q: How do Walmart’s operations in Mexico and Central
Our company’s mission has evolved. While before our goal
America add to the company’s global strategy?
was to be the most trusted retailer in Mexico, now the
A: Walmart’s operations in Mexico are the second-largest
target is to be the most trusted omnichannel proposal for
globally after Walmart US. The first Sam’s Club opened
the Mexican and Central American consumer. We are fully
in Mexico City in 1991 and from that point on, we were
aware that customers want to save not only money but time
highly interested in expanding our operations in the
and to be able to acquire every product through different
country as we recognized significant opportunities. The
channels as easily as possible. This is a significant challenge
company expanded significantly and in 2010, Walmart
as it requires us to develop many new capabilities to be a
Mexico (Walmex) acquired operations in Central America.
step ahead of our customers’ expectations.
Walmex now has more than 2,400 stores in Mexico and an additional 821 in five countries in Central America:
Q: How are Walmex’s practices evolving to become a
Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa
leader in the omnichannel sales business model?
Rica. We are highly committed to bringing our low-price
A: Being an omnichannel retailer means much more than
offering to populations that may be too far away from major
mixing physical stores and e-commerce. Our renovated
cities for customers to travel back and forth.
model allows customers to order online and pick up at the store. It also enables them to use a kiosk to order a
Walmart has over 2,400 stores in Mexico, plus 821 in Central America
product that a particular store does not have in store, pay
At the end of 2014, Walmex set itself the mission to double
Customer needs change all the time but their most valued
its operations in Mexico in the next 10 years, which would
resource is time. If we want to optimize their time, we have
require annual growth of 7 percent minimum. Our offices
to make the best use of our own. For instance, we are now
in Mexico have capitalized on the best practices that
implementing a system that provides store managers with
Walmart offices have implemented in the US, China and
the technological tools to perform all their duties at the
Japan. From 2014 to 2018, Walmex achieved a CAGR rate
front of the store, avoiding the need to visit the store’s
of 10 percent.
warehouses. Previously, store managers were constantly
for it at the counter and receive it at home or pick it up at the same store. Our stores in Mexico are going through our omnichannel transformation, which is leading to daily growth in the number of customers we serve.
going around the store to collect data for reports. Now, Q: How would you describe the evolution of private
this process is done automatically through eight apps that
consumption trends in Mexico?
they can install on their phone. This reduces downtime and
A: Consumer behavior is changing fast and close
allows us to provide better customer service. In 2018, we
monitoring allows us to discover trends not just year
saved 7 million hours of unproductive time as we moved
after year but month after month. Fifteen years ago, our
personnel from the back to the front of the store and
main priority was to offer our customers a broad range
allowed them to treat customers directly.
of products that allowed them to find everything they might need under a single roof and at the best price.
Q: What steps were necessary to turn Walmart into an
Our communication with customers focused on supply,
omnichannel retailer?
availability and price. Now, these three points have
A: This omnichannel proposal would not have been possible
become much more sophisticated due to technology,
without an evolution in our internal operations. We have
creativity and innovation.
implemented much more than an e-commerce platform;
