The Wide World of Walmart A Multicultural Analysis of Walmart’s Web Presence
Jonathan Reid Dr. Mialisa Moline University of Wisconsin-River Falls November 4, 2013
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract
3
Purpose
4
United States
5
Japan
5
Mexico
6
Impressions of Layout and Style
7
Cultural Awareness
10
Conclusion
13
Works Cited
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ABSTRACT Multinational corporations have the difficult task of branding and communicating company values online in a vast range of communities and cultures. One of the largest brick and mortar retailers, Walmart, approaches this challenge in different ways in different countries and finds success when incorporating design that caters to local cultures.
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PURPOSE With the wide reach of the internet, the temptation for these companies is to copy and paste website content in different countries is high. Much like the content on a website, when values and business models of large companies are forced on other countries and not adjusted to fit local culture, the companies often do not find success. Walmart has run into trouble with trying to copy and paste its western-influenced, American-materialistic-culture based, business model in other countries. Walmart attempted to move into the German supermarket and retail space in 1997 with the purchase of 21 Wertkauf stores and later 74 Spar hypermarkets (Arndt 9). Simply buying out local chains did not guarantee that Walmart would have success in Germany, or that the value system and business practices that made Walmart so successful in the United Sates would carry over into Germany. In fact, many of the foundational principles of what made Walmart successful in America drove Germans crazy. Were Walmart to embrace German business practices and culture, the foray into Germany may have been successful. Instead, Walmart Germany’s CEO (Rob Tiarks-an American who did not speak and refused to learn German) chose to disregard business suggestions from former Wertkauf executives (Arndt 20). The ignorance didn’t stop there. Employees bagging groceries, overly-friendly greeters and rules against co-worker relationships simply did not fit the German cultural expectations of customers and employees (Barbaro). Unwillingness to embrace and engage with the local culture ultimately led to Walmart leaving Germany in 2006. International markets where Walmart has found success display cultural awareness and sensitivity not seen in German example. Web designers communicate cultural awareness through the layout and style choices displayed in Walmart’s American*, Japanese and Mexican websites. This report will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of Walmart’s websites in three sections of the world. Layout and style will be addressed, as well as cultural awareness. The websites will be compared and contrasted with regard to how the website design respects local cultural expectations. *In this report American will refer to Walmart’s United States website and consumer base.
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UNITED STATES Walmart was founded in America in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton in 1962. The company has since grown to over 4700 retail stores employing 1.4 million. The company prides itself in ethics and integrity and giving customers “Every Day Low Prices” (“Our Story”). Walmart has become a force in the retail industry and their low price model fits the American culture well. Americans are materialistic in nature. Unlike the eastern collectivist world view, Americans are very individualistic. The culture values new and popular things. This addiction to the new can be seen in the limited attention span of Americans. Social media posts are getting shorter and shorter. Twitter has a 140 character maximum. Vine video clips are only 6 seconds in length. The average length an American watches a video online has fallen to just above 5 minutes (Greenfield). Americans love social media and are also swayed by brands and celebrities. One popular social media platform that has become strong in the past year is Pinterest. The company is valued at $2.5 billion dollars and in the summer of 2013, Pinterest climbed to the third largest social media site in America (Tzeng). Pinterest is popular because it is visually stimulating and based on trends—two tactics that have hooked American internet users. Americans are also becoming more inclined to online purchasing. While it isn’t taking over (only 5.8% of retail sales were online) the percentage of online sales has been growing (Worstall). Amazon.com is the leader in online sales and many users leave reviews about products they purchase. A common trend of American buyers online is to follow the 5 star ratings.
JAPAN Walmart has found success in a culture that is sometimes compared to American culture. That culture is in the country of Japan. In 2008, Walmart bought all shares of Japanese company Seiyu. As of May 2013, Walmart employs over 35,000 associates at 439 Seiyu stores. Walmart has achieved great success in Japan by respecting the culture of the Japanese people. People in Japanese culture have slowly become too comfortable in a public setting, but in general there is no physical signs of affection in public (Kanagy). Some of the core values of the Japanese include: “thinking of others, doing your best, not giving up, respecting your elders, knowing your role, and working in a group” (Kangy). These values are difficult to demonstrate through a website, but are beneficial for the background information of this report nonetheless. Similar to America, Japan is made up of many different cultures and languages. In fact, a popular children’s song speaks of a curiosity with other countries (Kanagy). As an island nation, the Japanese people have come to embrace and enjoy cultures from across the sea. This multicultural composition creates many varied expectations from users who access Walmart’s Japanese website.
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As an online culture, the Japanese people have started branching out and trusting websites with personal information. While not popular at first, Facebook became the countries 8th largest website in 2012 (Rong). As pop-culture and corporations—like Seiyu—embrace the social networking site, the people of Japan have begun to embrace it as well. Mixi is another social networking site that has grown in popularity in Japan. One feature of Japanese culture that initially hindered Walmart’s success was the fact that the Japanese don’t always view low prices in terms of value. In fact, when products are priced significantly lower than competitive products, the Japanese will assume the lower priced product is lower quality (Rowley). Walmart had to be aware of this when moving into Japan and make adjustments to fit the culture. The Japanese culture differs from America, but Walmart has found a way to enter this retail space and be successful.
MEXICO Mexico was the first country to open a Walmart outside of the United States in 1991. Since then Walmart has expanded significantly to incorporate over 2400 stores and employ about 240,000 associates (Our Story). The Walmart philosophy has fit well in Mexico due to Mexicans value of business and family structure. Mexicans value family, including extended family, and place a high importance and value on their loved ones (Zimmerman). Because of this love for family, Mexicans tend to purchase items related to family needs. As Mexico’s economy improves, their middle class is thriving: “The growing middle class that is fast becoming Mexico’s majority is buying more U.S. goods than ever, while turning Mexico into a more democratic, dynamic and prosperous American ally” (Miroff). As trade increases, buying habits of Mexicans become more and more similar to their American counterparts despite cultural differences. One major difference between Mexico and the United States is the level of internet penetration. While it is common for nearly everyone in the United States to have access to a computer, as of 2010, only 29.4% of the Mexican population had internet access (Mexico Internet Usage). This significantly limits the viewer base of Walmart’s Mexico website.
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IMPRESSIONS OF LAYOUT AND STYLE UNITED STATES The homepage of Walmart’s American website is simplistic in nature. A white background is complemented by blue and orange accent text. The pictures on the page resemble a flyer that you might find in store. There is a lot of consistency between sub-pages and the minimal color scheme keeps the products being sold highlighted. Americans like to get straight to the point, and Walmart’s online website streamlines the purchasing process. This also caters to America’s short attention span. Another feature of the American Walmart site is the “Trending Now” section of the site. Americans love to be a part of the crowd and follow trends. The “Trending Now” page resembles the popular Figure 1: Blue and orange complement a simplistic American social media site Pinterest. Rectangles with website design on Walmart’s American website. frames of different sizes highlight popular products and best sellers. Both Pinterest and Walmart’s “Trending Now” page have infinite scrolling: when a user reaches the bottom of the page, more products or pins pop up to fill in the space. For a materialistic country like the United States, this system is perfect.
Figure 2 (left), 3 (above): Walmart’s “Trending Now” page significantly resembles popular American social media website, Pinterest. Users of Walmart’s site can even “pin” favorite items.
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Walmart has begun to expand its online retail presence as well. A “ship to store” option is available for users who do not want to purchase online but would rather go in to a retail location. Also popular is Walmart’s online rating system, which directly resembles America’s most popular online retailer, Amazon.com.
Figure 4 (above left), 5 (above right): Walmart’s online rating system (left) has taken cues from Amazon.com (right). The extreme popularity of Amazon and its utter dominance in American online retail have caused many other retailers to copy Amazon’s rating and review system.
JAPAN Unlike its American counterpart, the Japanese Walmart website is full of color and beautiful artistic design. This design choice shows the web designers have cultural awareness. The Japanese people view cheap products and design as a sign of bad quality. In order to break this stereotype, Walmart had to go over the top in their design choices. The beautiful and professional looking webpages give Japanese consumers a sense that the products being sold have worth and quality.
Figure 6 (left), 7 (center), 8 (right): Struggling in the Japanese marketplace early in its time in Japan, Walmart quickly learned that professional and expensive looking products earn the respect of Japanese people. Walmart Japan’s elegantly designed website now meets this cultural expectation.
Another aspect of Japanese culture that is displayed in the layout and style of the Seiyu site is the structure and organization. In Japan, structure, hierarchy, and clear social roles give a “sense of security and comfort” (Kanagy). This comfort translates to the web through a website
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design split into four categories and organized by color. The four main categories are “Food,” “Fashion,” “Living,” and “Campaign.” Links on the homepage of the website are color coded with a tab designating which category sub-pages fall into.
Figure 9: Red, green, yellow, and blue colors guide users of Walmart’s Japanese website, meeting the Japanese cultural appreciation for order and structure.
MEXICO Walmart’s Mexican website is very similar to the American Walmart page. Gone are the multicolored, uniquely styled pages of the Japanese site; dominating are the Walmart blue and orange accent colors on a plain white background. The simplicity of the website is extremely important given Mexico’s low internet penetration ratio. Fewer internet connections means less internet competency, so simplicity and consistency help with the functionality of the web page.
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Whichever subpage users travels to will always have the labeled “Ver Departamentos” (“See Departments” sidebar on the left side and the search bar along the top of the screen. There is also a section labeled “¿Cómo comprar?” (“How to buy?”) that helps new users navigate the site as well as find retail locations. This type of section is not unique to the Mexican site, but its close proximity to the Walmart logo in the top left corner of the screen communicates the section’s importance. The designers of the Walmart Mexico website understand the culture of Mexico is relatively inexperienced with the internet.
Figure 10: Walmart Mexio’s straightforward, simplistic site helps its user base—many whom are new to the internet—navigate the site. A “¿Cómo comprar?”(“How to buy?”) link is present on every subpage header for extra assistance if needed..
CULTURAL AWARENESS UNITED STATES Walmart knows American culture well, and its website communicates to Americans. Easily swayed and enticed by branding, Americans love corporate logos. The American Walmart site is full of logos and brand recognition. In the electronics subpage users can shop in brand specific categories. On the cell phones subpage users see many logos representing popular service providers. Knowing that American culture is brand driven, the web designers of Walmart’s American site have catered to the needs of Americans.
Figure 11: American’s love brands. The phone department section of the website is packed with logos.
Another effective technique present on Walmart’s American site is the word “new” in multiple places on the site. Walmart America has a logo that incorporates the Walmart logo and the word “new” next to items recently added to the website. Not only does this catch the attention of users, it feeds American users’ desire to have the latest and greatest products. Language such as “Save now on new tech that tops their list” and “shop latest video games” highlights the importance of recently popular items.
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Similar to the stress on new items, a notification indicator number adorns the link to the “Trending Now” section. Users can “pin” items they are shopping for. When this happens, a number is added to the “Trending Now” icon at the top of the main homepage. This catches the users’ attention and sparks their curiosity.
Figure 12 (above left), 13 (above): Walmart keep its finger on the pulse of American culture’s short attention span with “Trending Now” notifications and “New” logos on recently added items.
JAPAN One of the most important aspects of Japanese culture is the fact that a variety of cultures and languages are present. In order to cater to this diversity, the web designers of Walmart’s Japanese website have created a great variety of designs for subpages. Some pages are laden with pictures and colorful graphics, while others are straightforward and full of text. Some are drab, calm colors, while other pages have bright colors with harsh lines. This allows the site to cater to a wide variety of demographics and cultural audiences.
Figure 14 (above left), 14 (above right), 16 (right): Design choices of the subpages of Walmart’s American web site vary greatly. This is a culturally aware design decision made based on the culture of Japan. Japan’s population is made up of people from many cultures and speak many languages.
With Japan’s multicultural audience comes a desire to know about other cultures and other countries. This cultural need is also catered to by the web designers of Walmart’s Japanese site. Many subpages include flags next to products designating which country’s culture the product represents. Imported Beer and Wine are popular, but snacks also are imported. The Japanese embrace other cultures and the website meets this cultural expectation.
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Also present on multiple subpages are links to connect with Facebook, Twitter, and social media site, Mixi. As the Japanese culture moves away from its shy and reserve nature, Walmart Japan has slowly integrated social media into its website. There are still very few pictures of people or children on the site, especially when compared to the Americana and Mexican sites— which may be a purposeful design choice based on the reserved nature of the culture.
Figure 17: Social media links can be found on approximately one-third of Walmart Japan’s subpages. Twitter, Mixi, and Facebook are Japan’s most popular social media communities.
MEXICO As a culture defined and connected to family and extended family, babies play a large role in society. It is no surprise then, that “Bebés” (“Babies”) is the top department on the side bar for Mexico’s Walmart site. For reference, “Baby & Kids” is fifth down on the side bar on the American site, and not featured on Japan’s front page. Adjusting which departments are most likely to be clicked by users based on consumer demand is a sound business strategy, but also displays Walmart’s cultural awareness. Walmart is also aware of Mexico’s growing middle class and the consumerism that is rising as a result. Persistent and frequent ads for Visa and MasterCard dominate Walmart’s Mexican webpage.
Figure 18: Mexican culture places a high importance on family—both immediate and extended. This value is catered to by the placement of the “Bebés” (“Babies”) department on Walmart Mexico’s sidebar.
Unfortunately, Walmart’s Mexican website is not perfect. There are many pictures of people on the site; the problem is, the pictures are not representative of Mexican culture. On three different subpages, Caucasian individuals are pictured using products sold at Walmart. While the consumer trends in Mexico are mirroring that of the United States, it is unfortunate that the models in Walmart’s photos are mirroring Americans as well. Actors and actresses of Mexican or Central American descent would be most appropriate for a website targeted at the consumers in those countries.
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CONCLUSION Walmart faces a difficult challenge when developing a web presence. Websites for a particular country must be sensitive to the local culture and expectations of the people. In the countries where Walmart has found economic success, they have also found success online. Walmart’s American website is in touch with the trends of social media and on the pulse of a culture that is consumerist and addictive in nature. In Japan, Walmart has embraced a diverse, multicultural layout and style to meet the expectations of the Japanese. Walmart Mexico knows its consumer base well, and despite just above a quarter of Mexican citizens with internet access, has created a site that meets the needs of the Mexican consumers that use the site. Every country that Walmart operates in has different cultural values and expectations. Walmart’s ability to be aware of those expectations and meet them is what makes their international web presence successful. Web designers who hope to be successful across the globe should follow the example of Walmart by being aware of both the intricacies of international markets’ business trends and the delicateness of their cultural expectations.
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Tzeng, Emma. "Will Pinterest and Google Beat out Facebook as the Leading Social Provider?" VentureBeat. VentureBeat, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. "Walmart.com: Save Money. Live Better." Walmart.com. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. "Walmart.com.mx | Walmart Tienda En Línea." Walmart.com.mx: Walmart Tienda En Línea. Walmart México Y Centroamérica, 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Worstall, Tim. "Fascinating Number: Amazon Is Larger Than The Next Dozen Internet Retailers Combined." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 01 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Zimmermann, Kim A. "Mexican Culture: Customs & Traditions." LiveScience. Tech Media Network, 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
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