Today in Global Small Business: Is Your Ideal World Walmart?

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• An Opinion Piece on Finding Beauty by Crispin Sartwell, a senior fellow at the American Institute for Philosophical and Cultural Thought.
• Trump trade strategy causing legal and economic uncertainty for businesses.
• Expand your reach by going global with the help of U.S. Commercial Service.  U.S. local office lookup.
• Quote of the week:  "Each Walmart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community." – Sam Walton
• Expanding internationally: Is it right for you?  An oldie but goodie from Wharton Magazine.
• Global expansion strategies for 2025.

Walmart Optimizes Retail Strategies With International Scale

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Since launching Walmart Luminate, a comprehensive data analytics product suite, Walmart has successfully aided in optimizing retail strategies – from product assortment to product development – leveling the playing field for suppliers of all sizes.

Today, 90% of Walmart's largest suppliers have signed up for a Walmart Luminate Charter subscription, and some of their smaller suppliers account for approximately 50% of our total subscriptions.

What began as a small but dedicated team has evolved into a thriving commercial business with international scale and even more opportunities ahead to create lasting value for their customers.

Make a Big Impression on Walmart and End Up Going Global

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Grace Owa, creator of Miss Nile Beauty Products, has a dream to take her homemade deodorant worldwide. "It is scary, but I'm not scared. If other people can go global, I can go global," Owa said. 

So she didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity to try and sell her products at Walmart. After all, Walmart is global.

If you think like Grace, Walmart is accepting open call applications through August 18, 2023 and encourages businesses of all types to apply.  Go here to apply.

Calling All Canadian E-Commerce Sellers! Walmart Will Help You Scale and Grow in the U.S. and Canada

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Walmart is recruiting Canada-based sellers to join its flagship U.S. Marketplace and serve a growing base of more than 120 million loyal online shoppers each month.

Entrepreneurs and e-commerce sellers interested in being among the first to explore the opportunity can sign up for the Virtual Walmart Global Seller Summit - Canada on Sept. 8. It will feature practical sessions hosted by Walmart executives and cross-border payments provider Payoneer. Attendees will learn how they can take advantage of simplified onboarding, streamlined fulfilment, targeted promotions, integrated financial services and other support to help them rapidly scale and grow in the U.S. and Canada.

Read more about how Walmart is inviting Canadian e-commerce companies to expand on its U.S. online marketplace.  To apply to join the Marketplace seller community, click here.

Today in Global Small Business: Freightos Agrees to SPAC Merger

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Freightos, a fast-growing ocean and air freight marketplace similar to Expedia in air travel, announced recently it is going public through a merger with Gersher Acquisition Company.  Some interesting investors to date - surprise, surprise.
• Maersk boss say global trade is not going in reverse (might require registration).
• Roku and Walmart partner in exclusive streaming ecommerce offering.
• Retail sales slump?  Not if you operate in clothing.
• Quote of the week:  “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com
• Who knew we needed to read Trade Therapy.

India Presents a Huge eCommerce Opportunity for Walmart

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Retail giant Walmart continues to be committed to the Indian market given the huge opportunity that the country presents.  It's been nearly a year into Walmart buying Flipkart for USD 16 billion.

We're looking at Flipkart, Walmart India, Walmart Global Sourcing and Walmart Labs.  That's a substantial presence in India.

Here is what's at stake:

[CEO Doug] McMillon is visiting at a time when Flipkart is locked in an intense battle for market leadership in India with American giant Amazon. India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has also announced ambitious plans of an e-commerce platform to tap into the country's digital shopping segment that is forecast to touch USD 200 billion in the next few years. 

Read more how Walmart is committed to India.

Turning Small Indian Firms into Global Entrepreneurs

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Many home-grown Indian manufacturers and sellers are profiting from the business models and facilitation offered by India-focused multinationals such as Walmart and Amazon.  Mumbai-based Indo Count Industries is one of them -- considered the fastest-growing suppliers of home textiles in the US and European markets.

Walmart, with its sourcing model, and Amazon, by offering a Global Selling Programme, are raising the aspirational bar on small Indian businesses, elevating them to earn the coveted tag of ‘global entrepreneurs’.

Additional points highlighted in the article below:

• Walmart sets up global sourcing centre in Bengaluru that sources India-made products for catering to 14 foreign markets; it procures over 95 per cent of the goods sold in Best Price stores from local companies.
• Amazon takes ‘Make in India’ to the world, bolstered by its Global Selling Programme; it is empowering sellers from small towns in India by scaling up their businesses and leveraging the digital economy.

Read more about how Walmart and Amazon are turning small Indian firms into global entrepreneurs.

Walmart CEO: When Making Change, Move with Speed

E-Commerce Supremacy Goes Global

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The world's largest retailer, Walmart, will acquire a 77% holding in Flipkart Group for $16 billion.

The deal — Walmart's biggest ever — gives it greater access to India's e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley has estimated will grow to $200 billion in about a decade.

For Walmart, this move enables it to tap into India's retail market without building stores.

Learn more about how Walmart just bought its way into India's e-commerce treasure trove.

Today in Global Small Business: WTO Proposes Agreement to Support E-Commerce for SMEs

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• How technology can help small businesses save time with automation and have a global reach.
• Why The International Monetary Fund has urged governments to take action to tackle a record $152tn mountain of debt mountain.
• Register for the 2nd Annual Global Small Business Forum held in Chicago Friday, October 21st.
• World Trade Organization proposes a new global agreement to support e-commerce for SMEs.
• Why Walmart is doubling down on e-commerce investments and what we can learn by it.
• Should Alibaba be put back on the list of sellers of fakes?

Walmart and JD.com Work Together to Leverage Their Supply Chains

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Walmart, America's big box store where each week, nearly 260 million customers and members visit their 11,527 stores under 63 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries, and JD.com, China’s largest e-commerce company by revenue, announced that they have formed a strategic alliance to better serve consumers across China through a powerful combination of e-commerce and retail.

For Walmart, the alliance greatly expands its opportunity in China e-commerce and provides its stores and Sam’s Clubs with potential traffic from JD.com’s significant base of online customers and vast same-day delivery network to serve its customers. JD.com will leverage Yihaodian’s strong brand and business in eastern and southern China and in key product categories such as high-quality grocery and household goods, both of which complement its own geographical and product strengths. In addition, JD.com’s customers will gain access to a wide range of new and imported items from Walmart and Sam’s Club.

Read more:  Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers Across China

The Walmart Effect in China

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As a global small business owner, how many times have you said, "I wish I was as big or had the power of Walmart?"  Oh come on.  You know you've gone there.  And yet you might work with Walmart and only worry about two things:  1).  Keeping up with demand and 2).  Getting get paid on a time.

But what if, just what if, you had to worry about this:

With Walmart (WMT) importing more cheap goods from China than it exports to that country, the retailer's actions may be implicated in an estimated loss of at least 400,000 U.S. jobs from 2001 to 2013, the study [published by the Economic Policy Institute] finds.

Would you rather remain who you are as a global small business owner -- creating jobs for America -- or become the size of Walmart and deal with their issues?

Read more:  Walmart's China syndrome:  The loss of U.S. jobs

Walmart to Source $20 Billion Worth of Products from Women Entrepreneurs Globally

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Small fact:  Walmart has decided to source $20 billion worth of products from women entrepreneurs globally, every year.  That's according to Rajneesh Kumar, Vice President, Walmart India (P) Ltd.

Here's what female entrepreneurs [in Kerala, India] need to do to work with Walmart:

• Make products of good quality that meet global standards.
• Provide a minimum quantity of the products.
• Be able to understand customers (since the rationale is that women make most of the decisions at home and hence women entrepreneurs will be able to understand the customers better).

Wait.  There's more.  Read on:  Walmart is ready to source products from women entrepreneurs in Kerala

Today in Global Small Business: Watch Walmart Hop To It on E-Commerce

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Why there is a multimillion dollar quest to brew the perfect cup of coffee worldwide
• View a video on how to get export ready.
• Watch Walmart and how they are rapidly ramping up on e-commerce.
• Watch PayPal and how it keeps gaining momentum in the marketplace.
• Find out how selling to Alaska and Hawaii can help small retailers learn about international e-commerce (yes, you read that right).
• How to use a free-trade zone to your advantage.