Why Walmart is so Successful

For many years, I've been a loyal Walmart customer, and still am currently for the obvious convenience of a one-stop shopping environment. Where else can you buy a dozen eggs, a gallon of two-percent milk, a 30-inch, flat-screen LCD monitor, and a new pair of underwear hanging off your shopping cart, all in one trip? Almost everything you need is blessed by the convenience of proximity with each other at competitive prices. Walmart employees are relatively nice with always several cashier lanes ready to serve. However, at one point I was challenged with the notion, that shopping at Walmart may be hazardous to my self-image of being a social responsible consumer. This all began after watching Frontline's documentary: Is Walmart good for America?

Frontline's documentary addressing the controversy around Walmart's great success brings up legitimate concerns, and the possible negative effects on the U.S. economy. In fact, the documentary invoked my anti-corporation humanitarian hippie side of my personality, and inspired me to change where I was grocery shopping. This inspiration was short lived after a series of frustrating experiences filled with hairline receding anxieties from shopping at any grocery store other than Walmart.

It is well known that Walmart is very competitive when pricing its products. It's equally known there's an increasing trend of consumers practicing social responsible shopping. These consumers don't have any problems paying higher prices as a means of protesting against what they deem as the unethical alternative, or anything that's a good cause-like buying Free-Range chicken eggs-and/or avoiding products produced in third world sweat shops. It's interesting that Walmart's competitors haven't tapped into this trend in consumer culture as an attempt to counteract Walmart's huge success. But rather have the audacity in this Walmart era of ultra-efficiency and low prices to push customers in signing up for a rewards card that's required to receive discounts on products that's usually more expensive than their evil Walmart rival.

When you opt out of providing personal information about yourself to get a rewards card, then you essentially get punished for being a customer. This experience comes complete with the rolling eyes of a cashier hesitant in giving you a discount you usually receive anyways; but only after you insist, and everyone in line behind you is inconvenienced with red-faced hatred for both you and the cashier.

After about three weeks worth of standing in long lines at grocery stores that actually seem to have allergic reactions when asked to open additional cashier lanes, and lacks even the pretense of providing customer service, could have anyone dream of blissfully rolling around in bed sheets inundated with Walmart logos.

Walmart gets five stars. Keep it up!