Walmart can be classified as a full-line discount store because it offers a wide variety of merchandise for a low price. Most Walmart's can also be considered super-centers because it offers a large selection of groceries and general merchandise all in the same building. This would give it an advantage for consumers making it a one-stop shop. When it comes to a variety of merchandise, Walmart has you covered. "Customers can buy electronic products such as MP3 players, digital cameras, printers, laptops and computers. Walmart offers music downloads, movies, books and jewelry. In addition to home furnishings, the retailer also offers baby products, sporting goods and grocery items" (Washington, 2011). Not to mention along with all these great services, Walmart also offers a photo lab, pharmacy, financial services, and wireless services. Walmart's customers rely on that one-stop shop experience and expect Walmart to have all their personal needs. "Over the past year Walmart has added back more than 10,000 products across hundreds of merchandise categories during the past year(Walmart, 2012). If something new comes out they will work with their suppliers to be the first to put it on the shelf.
Channel Advantages.
Walmart has many different channels of distribution. The most productive and beneficial is the store channel. "It has several benefits to customers that they cannot get when they shop through the non-store channels such as catalogs or the Internet (Levy, 2012). In the store you are able to use all the five senses such as touch, smell, taste, see, and hear when you are trying to decide if you want to purchase a specific product. I know that when I go shopping I would rather go in the store to try on clothes or shoes rather than to order them online for the fact that they might not fit, and then I would have to take them back. The same thing applies when you want to order a candle from Bath & Body works, this is the advantage that the store channel has, you can actually go in and smell the candle rather than order it online or in a catalog.
