13-12-2001 14:25									#31
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

"1. Which country has the most people living in households with household income of $100K or more?"

US-$ ? Has to be the US, most income here is in euros...

Krazy:
The US-$ buys you more hamburgers, and less healthcare in relation to most western countries. So your purchase pattern should strongly influence your perception.

China at 6 trillion $ ? Seems a bit overdone...

	13-12-2001 14:32									#32
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

"The US-$ buys you more hamburgers, and less healthcare in relation to most western countries."

With all the money I save on burgers I can afford to get by-pass surgery!

	13-12-2001 14:43									#33
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

I'm aware of that. That's why I called it "vaguely scientific".

	13-12-2001 14:46									#34
	Suffering from ads?

Sorry then. But you talked about a Walmart only...

	13-12-2001 14:48									#35
	Get a bigger avatar today!

Semi-sort-of-barely-vaguely-pseudo-scientific. All right?

	13-12-2001 14:50									#36
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

NOW it's economics!

	13-12-2001 15:45									#38
	Got spare money?

Walmart seem to own everything nowadays, not surprised they are classed as such a big company. They now own the large supermarket chain of Asda in this country. Today Walmart, tomorrow THE WORLD. Oh bugger, they already bought that one

	13-12-2001 18:00									#39
	Inflate your Upload Space

walmart tried t oinvade germany, but their dumping didn't work... in Cottbus, Kaufland is still more popular than WalMart, which used to be some Spar thing... I wouldn't mind the Dutch making profit from us, but yanks? nah!

	13-12-2001 18:08									#40
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

If WalMart wants your market, they will take it. They are ruthless.

That's what happened in Canada. The Canadians wouldn't let Walmart open stores there, so they just bought out their competitor instead.

Hey Deutschlander, why don't you get smart and leave those Eurocoms behind, they are holding down the great Fatherland, come join us instead. You and the Brits are welcome but the rest of the Eurocoms are on their own.

	13-12-2001 18:39									#41
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Ted Striker If WalMart wants your market, they will take it. They are ruthless.

Not ruthless enough for the german market. Dominated by price competition on razor thin margins - they had serious starting problems. Might do better now, but I think they are still losing money.

	13-12-2001 19:06									#42
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

So the game is afoot and far from over, my friend.

Viva L' Walmart!

Just don't buy any fish from them, they do a sh1tty job on taking care of them...

	13-12-2001 19:18									#43
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

Of course it's not over. Walmart has deep pockets, so they'll make their share. Question is how far they get. They tried selling goods below their purchase prices (extreme form of "loss leader selling", I think) but that resulted in the large competitors doing the same, and the competition authority intrevening...

	13-12-2001 19:24									#44
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Yeah they have deep pockets, HUGE leverage, and a super high level of skill at price leverage.

It sounds like alot of companies could be hurt with that kind of loss leader invasion.

Herr Rechtsberater,

What kinds of companies compete with WalMart in Germany? Are they multinational Euro chains? German-owned chains? Target?

	13-12-2001 19:30									#45
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Aldi is a german one with european reach. Not sure which are the other main competitors... Ahold bought into the german market too IIRC... then there's one with several brands, who bought Billa in Austria, just can't remember their abbreviation.

The world's largest retail chains are mostly european - but with walmart being the biggest by far. Seems they ate all the american competition...

	13-12-2001 19:33									#46
	Suffering from ads?

I've seen some Aldi's here and there in the States...

	13-12-2001 19:37									#47
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Roland:

quote: They tried selling goods below their purchase prices (extreme form of "loss leader selling", I think)

Firms trying to enter a market with new products often give away free or reduced price samples. Why should the COmpetition AUthority intervene?

For the $100K households, I meant USD equvalent, not actual USD.

	13-12-2001 19:43									#48
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Adam Smith,

Because they know that WalMart is almost unstoppable. New York City has been trying to keep them (and most chains) out of there for the longest time because of this.

As for the 100K thing, I think it's a trick question, I bet the answer is like one of those middle east oil countries.

But the common answer would be the US.

	13-12-2001 19:45									#49
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

AS:

"Firms trying to enter a market with new products often give away free or reduced price samples. Why should the COmpetition AUthority intervene?"

It was on a lot of basic foods and would have killed most small retailers. Not sure I agree with the german approach, but it was not limited samples.

Ted:

"I've seen some Aldi's here and there in the States..."

Didn't know they got there. It's funny though to see them in some old small spanish town in the middle of nowhere...

Btw, correction - should better be: The world's largest _internationally-operating_ retail chains are mostly european. Actually surprised Aldi is just nr 12...

Found this in a quick search:
http://retailindustry.about.com/lib...bl_ri061801.htm

I saw a similar list, just with Metro included and without home depot due to their specialisation. Seems I forgot about Kroger...

	13-12-2001 19:50									#50
	Tired of ads?

Royal Dutch shell is the most ubiquitous Euro chain here. There is a freakin Shell on every corner.

Though they are usually the cleanest gas stations...

	13-12-2001 20:03									#51
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Happened to come across this; it's quite interesting:

http://www.ebusinessforum.com/index...ory&doc_id=4968

Gets it overall right, just can't fully avoid the anglosaxon stereotyping:

"In Germany, its biggest headache, Wal-Mart was ready neither for the entrenched position of such discounters as Aldi nor for the inflexibility of suppliers and the strength of trade unions. It had little feel for German shoppers, who care more about price than having their bags packed, or German staff, who hid in the toilets to escape the morning Wal-Mart cheer."

I'd just say that suppliers to retailers are under big pressure already; for example Aldi/Hofer does a lot of house brands that are quite good and very cheap.

"And things are looking up in Germany. Employees like being asked what they think, and shoppers, used to surly staff and dingy stores, are slowly warming to service with a smile."

It's funny the article mentions McKinsey. I read a report from them about capital productivity in retailing where they found german cap prod to be higher, but blahed something like "high value added US style" gibberish with which german retailers couldn't compete blah.
And this is maybe their worst misunderstanding: "service"* as they see it is not offered not because of some inferiority to glorious american insights, but because it does not sell at a premium. With good pricing it may be an interesting package but we'll have to wait and see.

* The idea of having someone packing my groceries is quite absurd and touches me as "peinlich" - not sure how to translate that. "Almost an emotional pain..."

	13-12-2001 20:04									#52
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Originally posted by Roland they had serious starting problems. Might do better now, but I think they are still losing money.

Yeah, I'd even heard that Germans didn't like the Wal-Mart greeter for some reason.

	13-12-2001 20:08									#53
	Remove this text

Well I can't imagine not having someone pack my bags. We had a huge store once where you packed your own bags, and it was annoying.

The bag packers are alot more efficient at it anyway, and they save alot of time. Especially when you have a car load full of groceries that has like 10 bags in the back.

It's amazing the speed at which you can get out of a grocery store line.

Sounds like WalMart is simply not acclimated to the local business culture yet.

	13-12-2001 20:08									#54
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by DinoDoc Yeah, I'd even heard that Germans didn't like the Wal-Mart greeter for some reason.

LOL! Good you mention it...

It is simply a different culture. Mostly an industrial-dominated one. This also shapes the work ethic (in a broader sense).
So the idea of having people there for greeting and grocery-packing is to most people absurd and unproductive and worthless at best, and disgusting at worst.

But Walmart is learning. They scrapped the greeters.

Btw, what exactly is that "superstore" approach ?

	13-12-2001 20:09									#55
	Increase Your PM Length

quote: Originally posted by Ted Striker Royal Dutch shell is the most ubiquitous Euro chain here. There is a freakin Shell on every corner. Though they are usually the cleanest gas stations...

You can thank us and the Dutch for that

Yeah, Asda now has greeters. They don't seem to do much in particular, what is the point in having them?

	13-12-2001 20:13									#56
	Tired of ads?

"Well I can't imagine not having someone pack my bags."

Hehe. You know how this works at Hofer (austrian sub of Aldi) ?

There is a huge pile of empty cardboard boxes. You pick as many as you need, put them in the shopping card, get to the car, put the stuff into the boxes and the boxes into the car.

It may seem absurd but even the "bag" vs "box" thing may explain something. Why pack bags when you simply throw the stuff into the box and the box into the car ?

	13-12-2001 20:15									#57
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

Do you know what I cannot abide? Shops that charge you for carrier bags. It is so tight, and totally gives off the wrong signal...

	13-12-2001 20:19									#58
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

"Didn't know they got there. It's funny though to see them in some old small spanish town in the middle of nowhere..."

They are in my home town (pop ~40k) in Ohio. Yes, Ohio exists! We've got an Aldi to prove it.

I think the superstore approach is fusing a supermarket with a retail discounter.

	13-12-2001 20:19									#59
	Got spare money?

Right. It's usually a lot of little things combined that are crucial, and there you can make a lot of "cultural mistakes"...

	13-12-2001 20:22									#60
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

The basis for greeters is actually quite good and efficient. If you've never been in the store, you just ask them where they have what you're looking for.