Walmart 2015 Annual Report Download - page 9

7
2015 Annual Report
and Africa. In other highly competitive
markets such as the U.K. and Canada, we
remained focused on price investment to
drive sales. We’re also leveraging best
practices globally – improving our fresh
and private brand assortments and driv-
ing greater operational efficiency. Our
EDLC agenda had a strong year, with our
‘We Operate for Less’ and ‘We Buy for Less’
programs saving us $150 million in China,
for example. We’re also providing cus-
tomers greater convenience by opening
more small-format stores. And, when
necessary, we’ve closed underperforming
stores and divested non-core elements of
our business. We’ll continue to strategically
optimize our global positioning across key
geographies and formats to maximize
future growth potential.
Accelerating e-commerce and
digital/physical integration
In all markets, we’re committed to providing
customers convenient access to Walmart.
We’re innovating through e-commerce,
mobile and various pickup sites to pro-
vide customers more shopping options
than ever before. We’re especially
focused on grocery home shopping,
with expanded operations in the U.K.,
Mexico and Japan. Asda doubled its Click
& Collect sites, and in Japan, we automated
the order picking process to fulfill Seiyu.com
grocery orders more efficiently and sus-
tainably. E-commerce sales growth has
been strong. Brazil e-commerce sales in
fiscal 2015 grew faster than the market
despite strong competitive pressures, and
in China, Yihaodian saw traffic increase
more than 60 percent. No matter the
shopper preference, we’ll continue to
strive to be the destination of choice.
Building world-class talent and trust
With nearly 800,000 associates serving
customers in the International business,
we’re committed to investing in our peo-
ple’s success through training initiatives
and opportunity, ensuring we have high
performing associates in all markets.
We’re leveraging our global leadership
talent by giving them opportunities in
various markets, such as Mexico and
Brazil, to lead improvements in business
performance. Our leadership team is
focused on a common goal to be the
most trusted retailer everywhere we
operate. We aim to strengthen customer
trust with a strong focus on EDLP, high
quality fresh food and excellent customer
service. For example, in China, we’ve
invested to improve our distribution
network for fresh products and also utilized
Walmart’s “Worry Free Fresh” program to
provide a money-back guarantee if our
produce and meats don’t meet customer
expectations. Our commitment to having
world-class compliance and leading on
social and environmental issues also con-
tributes to building trust with customers.
In fiscal 2015, we continued to execute a
comprehensive compliance-focused
training program, including areas encom-
passing anti-corruption, food safety and
other compliance areas. Our consistent
focus on good corporate citizenship helps
strengthen community relationships.
Empowering women
entrepreneurs around
the world
Walmart’s Global Women’s Economic
Empowerment Initiative provides
training, access to markets and career
opportunities to nearly 1 million women,
many on farms and in factories. We’re
committed to affording them economic
opportunities and increasing our sourcing
from women-owned businesses.