Walmart 1997 Annual Report Download - page 15

leads the industry in information
technology — and we’re not
slowing down. We know our
future earnings growth has
to come not just from increased
market share, but from increased
productivity. That means
Wal-Mart is dedicated to giving
every associate the technological
tools to work smarter every day.
But this is Wal-Mart, we’re
not just developing technology
for technology’s sake.
Our investments in
systems are measured
in terms of their
effectiveness for our
stores and customers.
“With this technology,
we’re getting better,
quicker and more
accurate information to manage
and control every aspect of our
business,” Mott said. “Wal-Mart
has always been intensely
conscious of holding down
expenses, because that’s
another way we can have lower
prices, better merchandise and
service for our customers and
better returns for our investors.
“We may be talking about
state-of-the-art computer
systems, but the way we manage
t hem is pure Wal-Mart.”
In the world of information
technology, Wal-Mart has long
been known as a leader. Earlier
t his year, we were recognized
by Computerworld and
Smithsonian Magazine as one
of the top five innovators
in information technology
within business.
The award recognized
the Retail Link system, which
provides sales data — by item,
by store, by day — to our
vendor-
partners. That helps
suppliers save time and
expense in planning their
production and distribution,
which translates to lower
merchandise costs.
For another example of
leveraging technology, Mott
mentioned the item locator
system. This system enables
associates to scan an item and
electronically check on its
availability in other area stores.
“That’s a function that lets
associates leverage our shared
information to provide even
better customer service,”
Mott said. “It’s taking
advantage of technology to
add a little extra service
without adding a lot of cost.”
Wal-Mart’s constant drive to
improve can be summed up in
one word: Efficiency!
And that’s
where our technology comes
in, because the best way to
improve both service and
merchandising is to get it to
our customers faster and
more efficiently.
“Speed of delivery is a key
competitive advantage, Mott
said. Fortunately, he added,
here at Wal-Mart, one thing
people are comfortable with
is change.”
From “magic
wands” to the
millions of lines of
our own computer
code and the world’s
largest commercial
database, Wal-Mart
is out in front — and
picking up speed.
As Don Soderquist, our Chief
Operating Officer, is fond of
saying, ‘we don’t sell to our
customers. We buy for our
customers, ’ Mott said. “Our
technology
helps us buy the
right merchandise at the right
time, and have it in the right
place at the right price.”
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“ Our technology helps us buy
the right merchandise at the
right time, and have it in
the
right place at the right price.”
CIO Randy Mott: a bigger bang for the technology buck.