Massive IBM Announcement Proves Blockchain Has Officially Gone Mainstream

(ANTIMEDIA) —  In January, tech giant IBM was able to happily report to investors that after 22 consecutive quarters — nearly six years — of declining revenue growth, the company saw gains in the last quarter of 2017. In a news release, executives clearly identified the reason for the turnaround at IBM, a century-year-old institution that began as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. […]

WalMart Raises Starting Wage To $11, Provides One-Time Bonus Following Trump Tax Reform

This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

Add Wal-Mart to the growing list of companies boosting employee compensation in the aftermath of the passage of Trump’s tax reform.

In a just released press release, Wal-Mart Stores announced it is boosting its starting hourly wage to $11, expanding maternity and parental leave benefits and providing a one-time cash bonus for eligible associates – those who have been with the company at least 20 years – of up to $1,000, capitalizing on the U.S. tax overhaul to stay competitive in a tightening labor market.

The company said that the increase will take effect in February next month and will cost approximately $300 million incremental to already planned wage hikes. The one-time bonus of up to $1,000 is based on seniority and will amount to an additional $400 million. The company is also expanding its maternity and parental leave policy and adding an adoption benefit.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that “we are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders. However, some guiding themes are clear and consistent with how we’ve been investing — lower prices for customers, better wages and training for associates and investments in the future of our company, including in technology. Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.”

As Bloomberg adds, Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer, has fought in recent years to improve its image in the U.S., as it weathered criticism over its treatment of employees. With the wage increase and bonus payment, the world’s biggest retailer seeks to even its pay gap with resurgent rival Target Corp., while simultaneously sending a high-profile thank you to the U.S. government for slashing the corporate tax rate.

The full release can be found here.

America"s New "Trick" To Beat Black Friday Crowds: Wear Employee Uniforms

US shoppers’ lust for Black Friday bargains this year has reached absurd new levels, evidenced by a viral joke that morphed into a disturbing new trend to help shoppers beat Wal-Mart and other big box store crowds by disguising themselves as temporary holiday employees. It started when Twitter user @OverlyLiked announcing he would be selling his Walmart vest for $100.

“I’m selling this Walmart vest for $100,” he wrote. “Use it to skip the line during Black Friday. You can even walk in, grab what you want, and walk out."

I’m selling this Walmart vest for $100. Use it to skip the line during Black Friday. You can even walk in, grab what you want, and walk out????????‍??. pic.twitter.com/Q0UyDHUeU0

— 6"4 (@OverlyLiked) November 20, 2017

Although the tweet was reportedly meant as a joke, earning @OverlyLiked more than 30,000 retweets and almost 80,000 likes, it wasn’t long before he was being inundated with real requests to buy his shirt.

“The popularity of the tweet really did not surprise me… What shocked me was the news coverage of that,” @OverlyLiked told RT, explaining that apart from the bidders, he was also sought out by numerous media outlets covering the story.

Lol people really been trying to buy the Walmart vest. It was a joke i don’t even own a Walmart vest. pic.twitter.com/WFnhEAaNWZ

— 6"4 (@OverlyLiked) November 21, 2017

But @OverlyLiked’s disappointed would-be buyers didn’t need to wait long for other offers to materialize. It seems former and current Wal-Mart employees quickly caught on to the idea and began selling their own uniforms in earnest...

Going out for Black Friday?

Pick up this Walmart vest for $30!

Might be able to cut some lines. https://t.co/8P9MR1SPwz pic.twitter.com/vEsghCDX0K

— Fat Kid Deals (@FatKidDeals) November 21, 2017

Now I know them Walmart vest seemed like a good deal ,but I got these Best Buy joints going for $110 walk right in , skip the line , and take whatever you want !! pic.twitter.com/eVzML3RYbQ

— Teezy (@Jayteeezyyy) November 22, 2017

 

Walmart vest for sale ??80 dollars ..Walk right in ;Get what u want and walk right out on Black Friday ????????‍?? I"m willing to negotiate #FirstComeFirstServe pic.twitter.com/An9yHp275b

— benneth (@KennethRaw) November 20, 2017

 

While others went out looking for them,

If anyone works or has worked at Walmart and has an employee vest..please let me buy it. I’m tryna test something out black Friday.

— scythe (@FuckDae) November 22, 2017

Meanwhile, Walmart has apparently caught on to the hustle, and has asked its employees to “question” anyone they see wearing one of their vests, but whom they do not recognize.

this spread so fast that at the manager meeting today we were told that if we see anyone we don’t recognize on thursday/black friday wearing a walmart vest, to question them. ???????????????? https://t.co/IEA9CTFrkQ

— Emily Gould (@emg_emily) November 21, 2017

The American “Black Friday” tradition has intensified in recent years as big-box stores have sought to fend off the encroaching “Cyber Monday” when shoppers order all their items online - read Amazon - instead of trudging through massive crowds at Wal-Mart, Best Buy or any other retail mecca. Retailers typically open late Thursday evening, before the holiday has even ended, to offer massive bargains, prompting nationwide anarchy as dozens of stories and videos emerge of shoppers fighting one another for the cheapest deals on anything from blenders to widescreen TV’s to underwear. The insanity of Black Friday was perhaps encapsulated best by this meme that made the rounds a few years back:

 

Walmart & Amazon Ask: Can We Enter Your Home When You’re Gone?

Amazon and Walmart want the key to your house, and one of them even wants access to your refrigerator.

Both are testing services that will allow employees to bring packages and food into your home when you are away.

“The idea is you can chose to receive orders from Walmart.com — not just on your door and left on your porch but securely inside your home,” a Walmart video states. “If you’re not home rather than leaving the package on the front porch, the driver enters a one-time use code.”

The video shows a Walmart employee entering a house and restocking the fridge while the owner is away. Walmart claims the service is secure because there’s a one-time use code and users can watch the driver’s activities via video. Access to the home is achieved by typing a code into a keypad.

The service is provided by Walmart in conjunction with two companies: delivery service Deliv and smart lock maker August Home. Deliv CEO Daphne Carmeli claimed the service will be safe because drivers will undergo “regular audits, ratings and checks,” CNN reported.

“We are going to have to build trust with consumers,” August Home CEO Jason Johnson said. “At first you might be a little nervous. But after you do it once or twice, you absolutely will do it again. Everyone who has tried it so far is really satisfied.”

Walmart is testing the service in the San Jose area. Amazon has its own version ready for rollout on Nov. 8, CNN reported.

“Not at home? Not a problem,” an advertisement for a service called Amazon Key states.

Amazon Key uses a cloud cam to observe the driver and a keypad for entry. An Amazon Key smart lock replaces the traditional lock.

“As a Prime member, get your Amazon packages securely delivered just inside your front door. Plus, grant access to the people you trust, like your family, friends, dog walker, or house cleaner – no more leaving a key under the mat.”

Would you take advantage of such a service? Share your thoughts in the section below:

What Happened To "What Happened": Amazon Slashes Hillary's Book Price 40% Before It Hits Shelves

Last Friday, in an attempt at humor, we shared a satirical note from The Onion suggesting that Hillary had already begun work on a follow-up book, entitled "What Also Happened," intended to define precisely who was to blame for the failure of her first book, "What Happened."

Alas, if prices are any indicator of demand, which they"re pretty much universally accepted to be unless you"re discussing minimum wages with Bernie Sanders, then Hillary may want to double down on efforts to rush out the sequel as both Amazon and Walmart have decided to slash prices of "What Happened" by 40% before the books even hit shelves.

After Hillary"s publisher Simon and Schuster suggested a price of $30, Amazon slashed prices to $17.99 earlier today...

...and Walmart quickly matched...

Of course, the reviews have already started to pour into Amazon even though no one has a copy of the book yet.  Isaac apparently hated the book because he"s tired of hearing Hillary "blame her failure on sexism."

"What happened is she can not take responsibility for many of her own actions and blames her failure on sexism.

Ironically, it"s things like this that cause people on the fence go to the other side just to spite her."

Meanwhile, DirtBird thought the book was great...at balancing out his uneven table...

Finally, for those who are interested in what Hillary has to say in "What Happened" but just don"t have time to read a book right now, we found this summary to be a fairly accurate portrayal:

* * *

For those who missed it, here is The Onion"s uncanny prediction of Hillary"s latest failure from last Friday...

Fact or Fiction:

CHAPPAQUA, NY - Saying it would provide a candid account of her experiences writing an unsuccessful tell-all, sources confirmed Thursday that Hillary Clinton is already working on a follow-up book casting blame for the failures of her previous memoir What Happened.

“From my agent negotiating that underwhelming deal with Simon & Schuster, to the graphic designer’s lackluster cover art, to my so-called supporters who couldn’t be bothered to drop $17.99 for the hardcover copy - everyone had a hand in undermining my last book’s success,” reads a passage from the introduction to Clinton’s What Also Happened, which repeatedly decries her prior book’s “indecipherable” font and dedicates an entire chapter to lashing out at her copy editor for making her look like “an idiot third-grader.”

“I’ll never forget how Amazon buried me and how Barnes & Noble completely sabotaged me by displaying my book way in the back in that no man’s land by the CDs. Frankly, it’s obvious I got screwed on all sides.”

Accusing them of stealing her spotlight, the book reportedly concludes with a long list of every other celebrity who published a memoir in the past year.

Source: The Onion

'Gunfight' Starts Over School Supplies At WalMart (Or Why Amazon Is 'Winning')

If you had any reasons to question why increasing numbers of Americans are turning to Amazon.com for their everyday and anyday needs, the following clip will erase them...

On Monday of last week, an argument broke out between two pairs of women over the last notebook on the shelf at the Novi Towne Center WalMart store, according to police.

Video from a bystander shows a woman pull out a gun during the fight...

The fight involved two Farmington Hills residents, ages 46 and 32, and a mother and daughter from South Lyon, ages 51 and 20.

WCRZ-FM reports that the two Farmington Hills women were shopping for school supplies, and when one of them reached for the last notebook on the shelf, a South Lyon woman also reached for it. Police told the Free Press that it was the 20-year-old who reached for it.

The two women pulled the 20-year-old’s hair, and the woman"s mother was pushed aside before pulling out a gun, according to Fox2Detroit.

*  *  *

And that"s why Amazon"s sales are soaring...

Will Whole Foods Be Amazon's Waterloo?

Authored by Mark St.Cyr,

Although the Battle of Waterloo means different things to different people, one of the more widely held meanings it’s come to represent is something along the lines of a battle that one side held certain of victory, only to not only be beaten, but then lose everything they had fought for to begin with. This is what ended Napoleon, but it wasn’t for that he had no plan. On the contrary, he just believed his plan wouldn’t fail. That plan was: isolate, and annihilate, each army separately. (e.g., the Allied and Prussian armies.)

If you interchange “armies” for “business sectors”, Amazon’s strategy over the last few years seems much aligned. i.e., War against big-box retail, then all retail, media, spacecraft, and now – retail food shopping. I am of the opinion Amazon™, much like Napoleon, are going to find this battlefield has far more challenges that may end up costing them far more dearly, than they ever bargained for. Here’s why…

Unbeknownst to most, when it comes to the perishable food segment, the regulations and more (i.e., meat, dairy, et cetera) that allow what we American’s take for granted when it comes not only to variety, but for the safety and assured wholesomeness that our food supply is – it’s unlike anything most retailers outside of the industry have ever encountered. Let alone understand.

The ones whom find it the most difficult to acclimate to; are those who are all ready in the retail business (think: department store mentality) and believe it’s all just a case of applying what they know, or what they perceive as “what they know”; and switch it out using a shelf full of, let’s say toys, for a shelf full of steaks, as an example.

Many believe the only difference (an assumed difference) is that one shelf is refrigerated, yet, all the rest is the same. i.e., You have a product, a price, a label, a way to accept money for it, and a place to store back-stock. Sounds easy-peasy right? And that’s the problem, it sounds like it. But it’s anything but in the real world.

The reasons why I know this to be true is because this was the industry I made my marks in. i.e., The meat industry. And when it comes to what Amazon is going to have to contend with going forward I can speak directly to that because (using a hypothetical) when Amazon will be looking to make “deals” or “set up a supplier”, I would be the one on the other-side of the table they would need to negotiate through. And yes, I’ve actually done it, at that level. So I know intimately what I’m talking about, which is why I’m making this case.

This isn’t going to be the first time some retail behemoth decided they were going to get into the “food” market and show the industry a thing or two on how “they” believed the complex should run. It’s been done before, only to have their management sent packing arse-in-hand, shell-shocked, and mumbling for days, “WTF just happened there? Don’t they understand who we are?!” I’m referring to Walmart™ and their initial foray into groceries.

At about the turn of Y2K Walmart entered into the “supermarket” business with gusto. At the time they were gaining quite the reputation for negotiating (more like strong arming or bullying) food suppliers. (think “prepared” like: canned, or boxed product, sodas, etc., etc.) And when they were through – they set their crosshairs on the fresh meat suppliers. (think: steak, chicken, et cetera.) And it was here where they heard what seemed for the first time in response to their: “You’ll do it our way, and at our price, or no way!” demands. That response?

“Take a hike, a don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, and welcome to the meat business.”

The meat industry was the only industry that (at least to my knowledge) sent Walmart reeling with no way for recourse other than to deal on meat industry terms and pricing. In other words Walmart’s “size” or “buying power” wasn’t a dominating factor that could gain leverage for discount. In fact – it could actually work against them, something considered unfathomable to its product buyers. I’ll give you a quick example to help clarify.

If a company wants to purchase 1mm widgets they can find a factory that already has supply with excess inventory if needed (or can ramp up) and negotiate a price. Simple construct for this example. Now: want to buy 1mm pounds of meat?

If there’s some available on the spot market, fine. If not? What are you going to do – make it?

You can – but – that takes well over a year. And here’s the other key – 1mm pounds how often? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? And if you begin buying all the “spot” available? Guess what? Prices may go up for you – and not your competition. For your competition may already be locked into long-term contracts. And what can be even more baffling to the uninformed is this: All your competitors will have it, as in product – and you won’t. Maybe at any price.

Again, it’s a different business. And in the end it took them (Walmart) years with a lot of painful trial and errors as to try to innovate pricing and suppliers for differentiation. Today, if you look at meat prices from their cases comparing to any other (in my opinion) they’re basically right in line with any other national retailer. You don’t see any “WOW!” type price discrepancies unless, it’s a sale item.

The above thumbnail sketch is important, because it will help explain why this, Whole Foods™/Amazon merger might come into resistance not only from the competition, or suppliers. But also – from its existing customer base.

Whole Foods (WF) has garnered the moniker “whole-paycheck” for as long as I can remember, and with good reason. As I stated, being in the food industry for most of my career, when I walk around any supermarket, it’s with a far different eye than most, especially when it comes down to pricing. And WF has never ceased to amaze me.

I am always stunned (again, all my opinion) at the prices being paid by its customers. But there’s a reason for this. And it’s not what most people think. The reason why people pay those exorbitant prices is because of what they deem as some form of “exclusivity” shopping there gives them. e.g., They are showing they can afford it.

Sure, some may say the ambience is better than most other national stores (although I would argue today, that’s far from true) and there’s certainly a different product selection than others. But that’s everywhere. But where the rubber-hits-the-road (i.e., the meat department) all I’ll say too that is: I go “WOW!!!” But not for the reasons WF would like. Which brings me to my point.

WF customers aren’t buying there because of some form of pricing structure that lends itself to discounting. In actuality – it’s the exact opposite.

There are now multiple competitors surrounding many a WF that offer the same type of “wholesomeness” implied by shopping there. One example that’s in my own area is called FreshThyme™ (FT), and I’ll use them to demonstrate my point using a friend of my wife.

Her friend shops WF, but within the last year FT opened here less than 2 miles away from her recently opened WF about a year prior. My wife took her around the store where she purchased similar items as her go-to store. But this time her bill was noticeably cheaper. And I mean much, as in even she was quite surprised. Did she switch? Has she been back there again? Answer: No. And here’s where you begin to understand where I’m going.

Why hasn’t she? Is it because she doesn’t “need” or care to save money? Again, the price differences were not nickel and dimes, but rather, dollars on many items. Was it the “2 miles away” that did it, because we’re all such creature of habit? The answer again is no, because she doesn’t even live in this town, she actually lives some 20 miles outside. But location is the key. And here’s why…

The new WF was built in what is known in my area as “Easton.” It is a very exclusive retailing area. To give you an idea, if you’re walking around the shops and suddenly you have an impulse to buy a Tesla™ after your dinner at Smith & Wollensky™, you can do just that by crossing the walkway. And if you want to celebrate that with some one-of-a-kind key ring? Tiffany™ is right there to accommodate you along with many others. All within a manageable stroll – even if you’re in heels.

Why this is important is this: You are not going to gain market share, or customers, via the discounting model. It just doesn’t work that way to this clientele. And that is an “Achilles heel” to any management team coming from a “race to the bottom” pricing model, which Amazon is. And that leads to the following for consideration.

What advantages does Amazon bring to the WF concept model? Pricing? Management? Logistics? I would argue they aren’t relevant. And actually, the mindset of current senior management at both companies are in for a culture shock that will surely be epic. Imagine the meetings that will be discussed (as in shouting matches) on why reducing prices doesn’t work, or not spending money for a key display in an effort to cut costs, not understanding (or listening to reasoning) that reducing the display purely for “cost” might reduce actual sales.

I’ve seen it happen, and I know how they turn out. All I’ll say is this: not good.

Walmart was a different animal, for they already had brick and mortar stores – adding on a grocery store to existing models was (for lack of a better term) a natural fit. But it has been anything but the slam dunk many first envisioned. Especially Walmart itself.

WF is different, for it is a stand alone market. It has to fight to get (let alone retain) every customer into its store for a specific purchase. There’s no “We’ve got TV’s, and furnishings over here, toys over there. Oh, and now you can shop for groceries also!” e.g., There is no other reason to go to WF than to buy at WF. And they don’t go there because it’s cheaper than the competition, far from it.

If the culture of Amazon doesn’t mesh properly with the now management of WF the resulting missteps that may send customers once loyal elsewhere to shop alternatives (and they’re everywhere) could unfold faster than a next day delivery. And if you’re looking for further clues of where such missteps can happen, look no further than what is currently unfolding at the Washington Post™.

Again, this is the type of “culture shock” that typically takes place when an “outsider” comes in, and its management team (along with style) tries to impose what it now deems as “policy” going forward. More often that not the backlash that result over time begins to cripple the management of both. This WF deal could add to that already mixing cauldron.

Maybe the best indication of where this might all be going comes from none other than what is surely this whole war’s leading general. e.g., Rodney McMullen, CEO of Krogers™. To wit:

“Whole Foods is a ‘good fit’ for Amazon.”

I believe Wellington said something similar as he watched Napoleon deploy his troops. But that’s pure speculation.

Growing Number Of Companies Complain About Inability To Find Workers: So Why Is Wage Growth So Low?

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Since 2010, the highest year-over-year wage increase in any month for production and nonsupervisory employees is near 2.6%.

For a two-year stretch between summer of 2011 and summer of 2013 wage increases less than 2% were the norm.

Yet, firms complain about labor costs while simultaneously complaining about the lack of workers.
 

Bloomberg reports Firms Under Pressure as Labor Drought Grows, U.S. Survey Shows.

A growing number of companies are finding it difficult to recruit skilled workers, which threatens to curtail profits and growth, according to a quarterly survey conducted by the Washington-based National Association for Business Economics.

The results of NABE’s July Business Conditions Survey published on Monday showed that 34 percent of respondents have had trouble hiring skilled employees over the last three months, up from 27 percent in January. The Washington-based association polled 101 panelists, who are economists from companies and industry associations.

In response, companies are sponsoring foreign workers, expanding their search and hiring more independent contractors, according to the survey. They’re also boosting automation, stepping up internal training and in some cases improving pay, Jankowski said.

Perhaps at least partially as a result, more than a third of respondents cited labor costs as having the largest negative impact on their profits so far this year.

Year-Over-Year Wage Growth

Year-Over-Year Wage Growth

Is 2.6% wage growth too hefty even as corporations complain about a lack of workers?

What’s Going On?

• It’s not just salaries. Obamacare and benefits are hurting many companies.


• Cheap money from the Fed keeps zombie companies alive.


• Cheap money from the Fed induced (and still does) overexpansion fast of food restaurants and retail stores of all sorts.


• Workers really are not worth benefit costs plus an extra 3% so companies seek to automate.


• Are McDonald’s workers worth $15? Please be serious.


• Amazon and online shopping are weakening retail profits.

Finally, I suspect the survey is deeply flawed.

Does some random small to medium-sized company have the same weight as Walmart? The regional Fed manufacturing and ISM surveys seem to have that defect.

Yet for now, enough stores are still expanding which adds to job growth despite automation. Apparently, the goal is a McDonald’s or a Walmart on every corner.

We will not quite get that far. Rampant expansion will turn on a dime at some point, most likely globally.

Wal-Mart Threatens To Fine Suppliers For Delivering Goods Early

As Wal-Mart ramps up its war against Amazon.com, it seems the retailer’s suppliers are increasingly being squeezed. After telling trucking companies that the retailer will no longer do business with them if they continue moving goods for Amazon, Wal Mart is now threatening to punish suppliers for delivering goods a day early. Here’s Bloomberg:

Long known for squeezing its vast network of suppliers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is about to step up the pressure.

The focus this time is delivery scheduling, and the company’s not messing around. Two days late? That’ll earn you a fine. One day early? That’s a fine, too. Right on-time but goods aren’t packed properly? You guessed it -- fined.

The program, labeled “On-Time, In-Full,’’ aims to add $1 billion to revenue by improving product availability at stores, according to slides from a presentation obtained by Bloomberg, and it underscores the urgency Wal-Mart feels as it raises wages, cuts prices and confronts a powerhouse rival in Amazon.com Inc. that’s poised to grow with its planned purchase of Whole Foods Markets Inc.

“Wal-Mart has to find efficiencies wherever it can,’’ says Laura Kennedy, an analyst at Kantar Retail. “They’re trying to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze.’’

The initiative builds on progress Wal-Mart has made in reducing inventory and tidying its 4,700 U.S. stores after the company’s backrooms routinely became so overcluttered that stores had to purchase excess storage capacity.

According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart isn’t the first big retailer to tighten the deadline for vendor deliveries. Target Corp. implemented a similar policy last year as part of a broader supply-chain overhaul. But Wal-Mart’s vast logistics network of more than 150 U.S. distribution centers dwarfs that of any other retailer, and the company typically accounts for a sizable chunk of its suppliers’ sales: 27 percent for bleach maker Clorox Co., for instance.

“The new rules begin in August, and the company said they will require full-truckload suppliers of fast-turning items - groceries, paper towels - to “deliver what we ordered 100 percent in full, on the must-arrive-by date 75 percent of the time.” Items that are late or missing during a one-month period will incur a fine of 3 percent of their value. Early shipments get dinged, too, because they create overstocks. By February, Wal-Mart wants these deliveries to be on-time and in-full (known as “OTIF”) 95 percent of the time. Its previous target was 90 percent hitting a more lenient four-day window.”

“Variability is the No. 1 killer of the supply chain,’’ Kendall Trainor, a Wal-Mart senior director of operations support and supplier collaboration, said in a presentation to vendors earlier this year.

For many of Wal-Mart’s suppliers, this would represent a major shift: OTIF scores for Wal-Mart’s top 75 suppliers - including Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever - had been as low as 10 percent, according to Trainor’s presentation. And not one had reached the 95 percent long-term target.

As a slide at one company presentation warned: “The goals are aggressive and will require new ways of working.”

The suppliers have largely refrained from commenting, according to Bloomberg:

Unilever declined to comment. Damon Jones, a spokesman for P&G, said his company and Wal-Mart “share a joint commitment to superior consumer service - including on-shelf availability.”

A Wal-Mart spokesman said the retailer is “working closely with our vendors to help reach these targets. We know that when products we’ve ordered arrive on time, it results in happier customers.’’

Under previous Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke, stores suffered from a lack of manpower to keep shelves stocked, and missing products drove customers to rivals including Dollar General Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and German discounter Aldi. When Doug McMillon became CEO in 2014, one of his goals was to improve what the company calls “on-shelf availability.” It has gotten better, although Wal-Mart declined to provide specific figures.

While big suppliers should be able to invest in fancy inventory-management systems to get up to speed with the new rules, smaller businesses may not be able to comply with Wal-Mart’s demands. Some don’t even know what “OTIF’’ stands for, according to Colby Beland, vice president of sales at CaseStack, a logistics provider that bundles supplier shipments for delivery to retailers’ warehouses.

The new rules have created brisk business for consultants, who are busy crisscrossing the country delivering tutorials on the program.

“OTIF is the hottest subject out there right now,’’ according to 8th and Walton, a consultant based in Wal-Mart’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, that has conducted OTIF seminars in New York; Portland; Ontario, Canada, and other cities.

“Everybody has come to the stark realization that OTIF is here and it’s real and they better get ready for August,’’ Beland says.

Many of these consultants are playing down the negative aspects of the shift and are instead comparing it to when Wal-Mart adopted bar codes in the early eighties.

“The program is the latest chapter in Wal-Mart’s history of badgering suppliers to improve efficiency and performance. It was the first big retailer to embrace bar codes in the early 1980s to track inventory and sales, mandating precise locations on packages for easy scanning. Vendors that refused were kicked off the shelves.

‘Suppliers went crazy at first, but they all figured out how to implement it and it helped them as much as it helped Wal-Mart,’ says Dale Rogers, a logistics professor at Arizona State University. ‘This is just the next one of these things.’”

In what might seem like a stroke of benevolence, Wal-Mart said it will only fine companies when they, not Wal-Mart, are responsible for the delay or early arrival. The retailer has developed a scoring system that breaks down reasons for non-compliant deliveries and will fine suppliers only if they’re responsible. But here’s the catch: If suppliers don’t agree with the fine, too bad: Disputes “will not be tolerated,’’ Wal-Mart says.

Even a freak snowstorm, like the one that paralyzed travel in the southeastern US in 2015, might not get suppliers off the hook.

As one b-school professor points out, the system likely won’t be great for fostering mutual trust between the retailer and its suppliers.

“You end up in a situation of, ‘Who is to blame?’ ” says Santiago Gallino, an associate professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. “It’s a tough discussion.”
 

It Begins: WalMart Warns Truckers It Will No Longer Work With Them If They Move Goods For Amazon

The cold war between America"s two largest retailers just turned hot.

In a note this morning from Deutsche Bank"s freight and logistics analyst Amit Mehrotra, he notes that  the "WMT vs. AMZN battle is heating up" and points to a report by DV Velocity, according to which a well respected transportation industry consultant told attendees of a logistics conference that Walmart (WMT) is telling trucking companies that it will no longer do business with them if they continue moving goods for Amazon (AMZN).

This follows similar reports citing WMT’s “request” for its tech partners to stop using Amazon Web Services.

The news, while suggestive perhaps of Walmart"s growing desperation in its war with the retail juggernaut that is Amazon, has dramatic implications not only for the future of retail (and associated prices) but for one of the most important US industries: trucking, and the number of people it employes.

According to Deutsche, these developments, "are likely to have significant implications for U.S. transportation companies, in our view, as Amazon and Walmart remain two of the largest users of truckload capacity. For reference Walmart represents about 14% of SWFT’s operating revenues and traditional retail accounts for about half of WERN"s total sales (WMT around 4%)."

A map of Amazon"s multiplying fulfuillment centers is shown below.

And, as CNBC reported last week, WalMart warned some tech companies that if they want Wal-Mart"s business, they can"t run applications on Amazon"s cloud platform, Amazon Web Services, some tech companies told The Wall Street Journal. Wal-Mart uses some tech vendors" cloud apps that run on AWS, Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Toporek told the Journal, though he declined to say which apps or how many. But Toporek did acknowledge instances where Wal-Mart is pushing for AWS alternatives, the Journal reported Wednesday. 

Wal-Mart spokesman Toporek told CNBC in an email: "Our vendors have the choice of using any cloud provider that meets their needs and their customers" needs. It shouldn"t be a big surprise that there are cases in which we"d prefer our most sensitive data isn"t sitting on a competitor"s platform." Wal-Mart doesn"t appear to be alone in this push to leave AWS, either.

Other large retailers are reportedly requesting that service providers move away from AWS, the Journal said, citing technology vendors that work with retailers. Adding to the many growing conflicts of interest, Amazon has confirmed a number of retailers it competes with use AWS, for example GameStop.

The battle between Wal-Mart and Amazon is only heating up, after Amazon announced plans last week to acquire brick-and-mortar grocery retailer Whole Foods. With Amazon stepping into Wal-Mart"s turf in grocery, Wal-Mart has been trying to beef up its e-commerce presence.

In light of AMZN"s recent expansion with the purchase of WFM, one can see why WMT is starting to take it much more seriously. Perhaps Amazon"s latest push (and WMT"s lobbying effort) may explain why Trump decided to finally reignite his long-simmering war with AMZN CEO Jeff Bezos, when this morning he tweeted “The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!”

The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017

The World's Top 100 Companies: Revenue Versus Profits

Just over a month ago, Visual Capitalist published a very tidy data visualization that summed up the top 50 companies in the world by revenue, based on data from Forbes.

But, as Jeff Desjardins notes, just looking at revenue numbers doesn’t give a full picture on how these companies compare – and many investors care much more about a different performance metric: profit.

Roday’s data visualization from Ishtyaq Habib shows the top 100 biggest companies by market value, but uses circles to represent both the revenue and profit for each company. There’s also an interactive version of the same chart here as well, which highlights the specific numbers for each company highlighted.

APPLE = A MONEY-MAKING MACHINE

The first noticeable difference in this version?

It’s that Apple is unparalleled in its ability to make money. In fact, Apple’s 2016 profit of $45 billion is far bigger than any other company, including Berkshire Hathaway ($24 billion), JPMorgan Chase ($24 billion), Wells Fargo ($22 billion), Alphabet ($19 billion), Samsung ($19 billion), Toyota ($17 billion), Johnson & Johnson ($16 billion), or Walmart ($14 billion).

The only companies that can compare with Apple were Chinese banks like ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, or China Construction Bank, but in many ways these state-owned enterprises are on an entirely different playing field, anyways.

Also impressive: Apple’s profits are bigger than the revenues of massive companies like Coca-Cola ($41.5 billion) or Facebook ($27.6 billion).

MARGINS, SCHMARGINS

Unfortunately, not every company can make a 21% profit margin on $217 billion of revenue like Apple.

Other organizations need to rely on razor-thin margins and volume to make things work. Walmart only brought in $14 billion of profit off of a whopping $485 billion of revenue – a margin of just 2.8%. Meanwhile, fast-growing Amazon was in a similar boat with margins of 1.7%, largely provided by its wildly successful AWS service.

Lastly, it is also worth noting that some on the list did not make a margin at all. These are mostly companies that are suffering from the challenges of down cycles in natural resources. Chevron and mining giant Glencore, for example, were two of the Top 100 Companies that both lost money in 2016, while BP essentially broke even.

"Major Deflationary Disruption" Looms After Amazon Purchase Of Whole Foods

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Amazon bought Whole Foods yesterday. Widespread carnage in the grocery stock prices followed. Jim Cramer called it a major deflationary disruption saying stores cannot compete.

“If I was the Federal Reserve, I would have a meeting on this. Inflation is going to go down…. You have to rethink food … Costco knows how to compete. It will be in there tooth and nail with toilet paper and paper towels. … But Kroger, a crisis in Cincinnati, crisis.”

“Major Disruption of Society”

SupplyChain247 reports Amazon’s Move to Purchase Whole Foods Is ‘Disruption of Society’

TheStreet’s Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer said Amazon’s move to acquire Whole Foods is a disruption of society, “this is what I regard to be a move by Amazon to destroy the margins and own the business of food and groceries in this country,” Cramer said.

With Amazon putting down $13.7 billion to buy Whole Foods, Bezos is sending a powerful message to his retail rivals;

• Food suppliers will now be dealing with an even larger grocery store, meaning potentially pressured profit margins for organic players such as Hain Celestial.


• Amazon officially shows intent to enter bricks-and-mortar retail in a larger way than just bookstores. Combine that with its unmatched digital presence, Walmart, Target and others have been put on notice.


• Grocer stores like Kroger will now be in an even bigger price war.


• Amazon Prime integrated into Whole Foods could hurt Costco over time. Many Costco members are also Prime members.

“What Amazon did to the mall, it will now do to grocery stores,” said Cramer.

Here is a Tweet to think about:

Amazon did not just buy Whole Foods grocery stores. It bought 431 upper-income, prime-location distribution nodes for everything it does.

— Dennis K. Berman (@dkberman) June 16, 2017

Poison Peddlers

(image: Getty)

It’s probably not in your garage, or on your shopping list.

But how many of your neighbors will spray their lawns and gardens this summer with Roundup herbicide, thus exposing you (and your family and pets)—possibly without your knowledge and definitely against your wishes—to Monsanto’s cancer-causing chemicals?

If the answer is one, it’s one too many.

With everything we’ve learned about the health risks of exposure to Roundup (and its key active ingredient, glyphosate), and the lengths to which Monsanto has gone to hide those risks, no ethical retailer should still be selling Roundup to consumers.

On one of its Roundup product labels, Monsanto boasts: “Kills Weeds not the Lawn.” What the label doesn’t tell you is that Roundup can also kill people—just ask the hundreds of people suing Monsanto for failing to warn them that Roundup is linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

It’s time for big retail chains to stop peddling poison. Period.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Amazon, Home Depot and Walmart: Stop Selling Monsanto’s Roundup!

Post your comments and share this petition on Facebook (Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart).

Tweet @Amazon and @HomeDepot and @Walmart

Amazon is Now Worth More Than Every Store in the Mall Combined

Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

Everyone knew Amazon was crushing retail, dating back at least a decade. But for some reason, very few went through with the easiest pair trade of all time -- long AMZN, short shopping mall operators. What a simple, yet brilliant, trade. Is it not?

Here"s an old market cap chart of when Amazon topped Walmart. Now it"s worth two Walmarts.

Here"s another old chart that captures the spirit of Amazon"s sales explosion. The current annual run rate is in excess of $140b.

So how does Amazon"s $143b in annual revenues stack up against other retailers?

According to Exodus, there are 31 companies in the Apparel Stores industry, the names you"re all familiar with when shopping at the old dead mall, whose sales equal $107b combined, with net income of $13.6b. Their composite market caps are $81.69b, the inversion of the price/sales ratio is indicative of an industry in duress.

Amazon"s $143b in annual sales and net income of just $9b is rewarded with a market capitalization of $469b.

Think about that for a moment. The entire shopping mall, sporting +1.1% quarterly revenue growth, does more net income than Amazon, on 40% less in revenues, and yet Amazon is valued at 5x what the entire mall is being sold for on the market today.

The Department Stores are an even worse comparison. TJX, M, KSS, SHLD, DDS, JCP, SRSC, SHOS and BONT combined do revenues of $129b, netting $10.17b in income, yet the composite market caps are just $68b on -4.5% quarterly revenue growth.

I get Amazon is the future and they"re growing at 22% per annum. But is it worth more than all the department stores and apparel stores combined 3x over?

And now for the most egregious juxtaposition: Amazon vs the Discount/Variety Store industry.

The Discount Variety stores include WMT, TGT, COST, DG, DLTR, BURL, PSMT, BIG, FRED and TUES. An impressive set of retailers, no doubt. Together, they sport sales of $729b with net income of $51b, enjoying median quarterly revenues growth of nearly 5%.

Their market caps combined equal $389b. If you threw in another COST, you might get to match Amazon"s market cap.

Does any of this shit make sense to you?

The Germans are coming — and their groceries may cost up to 50% less than Walmart

Back in February we reported that as America’s deflationary wave spread through the grocery store supply chain, the scramble for America’s bottom dollar was on, and it prompted America’s largest low-cost retailer Wal-Mart to not only cut prices, but to squeeze suppliers in a stealthy war for market share and maximizing profits, a scramble for market share which is oddly reminiscent of the OPEC 2014 price fiasco and is certain to unleash a deflationary shock across wide portions of the US economy.

As Reuters reported at the time, Wal-Mart had been running a “price-comparison” test in at least 1,200 U.S. stores and squeezing packaged goods suppliers in a bid to close a pricing gap with German-based discount grocery chain Aldi and domestic rivals like Kroger. Citing vendor sources, Reuters said that Wal-Mart launched the price test across 11 Midwest and Southeastern states such as Iowa, Illinois, and Florida, focusing on price competition in the grocery business that accounts for 56% of the company’s revenue.

Notably, while Wal-Mart was considering cutting prices to match its competition, the near-monopoly retailer was also seeking offsetting cost cuts from its own vendors, in what could lead to a deflationary shock that would ripple across the entire US grocery store supply-chain, with dropping prices leading to margin collapse inside the entire industry, and eventually a default domino effect.

And, as we also reported, as part of the relentless competition among the largest grocers Wal-Mart would have no choice but to proceed with even more aggressive price cuts in the future. The reason for this is that Germany-based discount grocer Aldi had emerged as one of the relatively new rivals quickly gaining market share in the hotly competitive US grocery sector, which already boasts Kroger, Albertsons Cos Inc and Publix Super Markets as stiff competitors on price.

A second Germany-based discount grocer, Lidl, was planning to enter the U.S. market this year, which together with German Aldi would pose a serious threat to Wal-Mart’s U.S. grocery business.

Now, thanks to a follow up by Reuters, we can safely assume that the upcoming grocery price war is about to turn nuclear because the abovementioned German discount grocery chain Lidl, which is opening its first U.S. stores this summer and is eager to capture US market share at all costs, said its products would be up to 50% cheaper than competitors… which are already caught up in a margin-crushing price war.

“This is the right time for us to enter the United States,” Brendan Proctor, chief executive officer for Lidl U.S., told Reuters at a media event in New York late on Tuesday. “We are confident in our model. We adapt quickly, so it’s not about whether a market works for us but really about what we will do to make it work.”

And as the first order of business, what Lidl will do is generate huge losses by massively undercutting prices in hopes of capturing market share from established names like Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons. Think Uber but for grocery stores.

There is already a case study of what happens next, should the two German invaders prove successful. Lidl, which runs 10,000 stores in 27 countries, and German rival Aldi Inc have already upended Britain’s grocery retail market, hurting incumbents like Tesco Plc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s ASDA supermarket chain.

Looking ahead, Lidl said it would open its first 20 U.S. stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, starting on June 15. Eighty more will follow in the United States within the first year, which Procter said would create 5,000 jobs. Analysts cited by Reuters estimate the company will have more than 330 U.S. stores by 2020.

The stores will be 20,000 square feet in size and have only six aisles. The retailer’s in-house brands will account for 90 percent of the products.

And while the latest German invasion may lead to dramatic changes within the hierarchy of established US grocers, one thing is certain: the US consumer is about to be the biggest winner yet again, as prices for (subsidized) groceries are about to plunge across the nation.

Via Zero Hedge

Featured Image: Mike Mozart/Flickr

Is This WalMart 'Free-For-All' A Taste Of Things To Come?

by Stefan Stanford via AllNewsPipeline.com,

In the new story over at Survival Dan called “During The Collapse: Where To Go And What Places To Avoid”, he reports that when IT hits the fan, America’s ‘population hubs’ will likely explode with violence, looting and the total breakdown of law and order as resources become next to impossible to get and the masses suddenly realize the government isn’t coming to save them.

Whether that be via total collapse, WW3 coming home to roost upon US soil or a ‘grid event’ that leaves tens to hundreds of millions either without power or access to the money in their bank accounts, the video directly below from a WalMart in Mexico gives us a very small taste of what that world without law and order can quickly devolve into.

Showing what happens when suddenly ‘lawless people’ realize that there aren’t enough security guards in a Wal Mart store to stop them, we witness the kind of all-out ‘free for all’ that we’ll likely see in a collapse event, though the smart people would be carrying out food, toilet paper and other necessities instead of flat screen TV’s. And in an all-out SHTF event, we’d expect that the people will likely be fighting with each other for the few remaining resources as they are now in Venezuela where children are literally starving to death.

Following Alt Market’s Brandon Smith warning that ‘a full spectrum crisis is about to take place’ a Wal Mart in Mexico gives us a small glimpse of what might happen here once it all comes crashing down amid more signs that what we’re witnessing in Venezuela may be coming to America.

As commenters on the live leak video clearly point out, we’ve already witnessed events in America similar to what happened in the video above with packs of roving gangs showing up in malls and convenience stores ‘en masse’, taking whatever they want and parading out as if laws don’t matter to them. Knowing such events are already taking place in 2017 America, how much worse might things get when SHTF? As Susan Duclos reported this morning on ANP, parts of America are already a boiling cauldron read to boil over. How many Americans are the frogs in the simmering water?

In this December 2016 story on ANP called “Map Shows Us Where We Don’t Want To Be When It All Turns Ugly”, we reported that nearly 50% of Americans live in very small geographical locations. According to this story from the Daily Mail, half of the US population live within 146 counties while the other 157 million are scattered across the other 3,000+.

The map seen directly below gives us a visual representation of what that looks like with the counties seen below in blue making up approx. 50% of the US population while the remaining 50% of Americans live across the rest of the country in counties seen in gray. When SHTF, does anyone want to be in the blue areas?

As we also reported back in December, the map seen above showing the US counties with the biggest populations coincides quite eerily with the map of US counties won by Hillary Clinton during the last election seen below.

The next map below from James Wesley Rawles’ Survival Blog shows US cities with approx. 100,000 population in yellow circles with the shaded areas surrounding them indicating the distances from those cities with each shaded increment representing approx 40 miles. Showing that most of the East coast and eastern half of the US are within 120 miles of big cities, it’s easy to understand why videographer The Prepared Mind selects some of the areas seen in the final video below as his ‘go to’ areas for when SHTF.

As M.D. Creekmore over at the Survivalist Blog has previously brought to the attention of preppers, getting out of the cities may not be possible for some who are tied to their jobs when SHTF and many of the same areas mentioned in that videohave such low populations for a very good reason – a major lack of jobs in areas long ago hit by the globalists economy that has decimated much of America.

According to Brandon Smith in this recent story over at Alt Market, “I continue to believe that a greater crisis is brewing that is economic and global in nature. With numerous financial bubbles artificially inflated over at least eight years of central bank stimulus, the question is not “if” but WHEN the system will enter the final stages of its ongoing collapse.“

Smith’s warnings echo the warnings given by Doug Casey who recently stated “a civilization always collapses from within. World War 1, in 1914, signaled the start of the long collapse of Western Civilization. Of course, termites were already eating away at the foundations, with the writings of people like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx. It’s been on an accelerating downward path ever since….”

Visualizing America's Retail Apocalypse

The steady rise of online retail sales should have surprised no one. As Visual Capitalist"s Jeff Desjardins notes, back in 2000, less than 1% of retail sales came from e-commerce. However, online sales have climbed each and every year since then, even through the Great Recession. By 2009, e-commerce made up about 4.0% of total retail sales, and today the latest number we have is 8.3%.

Here’s another knowledge bomb: it’s going to keep growing for the foreseeable future. Huge surprise, right?

SIGNS OF A RECKONING

Retailers eye their competition relentlessly, and the sector also has notoriously thin margins.

The big retailers must have seen the “retail apocalypse” coming. The question is: what did they do about it?

Well, companies like Sears failed the shift to digital altogether – in fact, it is even widely speculated that the former behemoth might file for bankruptcy later this year.

The majority of other companies, on the other hand, are trying to combine “clicks and bricks” into a cohesive strategy. This sounds good in theory, but for established and sprawling brick and mortar retailers with excessive overhead costs, such tactics may not be enough to ward off this powerful secular trend. Target, for example, has had impressive growth in online sales, but they still only make up just 5% of total sales. As a result, the company’s robustness is also in doubt.

Wal-Mart took another route, which could potentially be the smartest one. The company hedged their bets by buying Jet.com, which was one of the fastest growing online retailers at the time. Later, they followed up by buying an online shoe retailer to help fill a perceived gap in footwear. Recent reports have surfaced, saying that these acquisitions are leading to staff shakeups, as the company re-orients its focus.

After all, going online is not just a tactic to boost sales in the new era of retailing. It has to be a mindset, and one that is central to the company’s strategy. Hopefully Wal-mart gets that, otherwise they will also be in trouble as well.

APOCALYPSE NOW

In the midst of all of this is what is described as the “retail apocalypse”.

There are two main metrics that are pretty black and white:

Number of Bankruptcies: We’re not even one-third through 2017, and we already have about as many retail bankruptcies as the previous year’s total. If they continue at the current pace, we could see over 50 retailers bankrupt by the end of the year.

Number of Store Closings: So far we’ve seen roughly 3,000 store closings announced in 2017, and Credit Suisse estimates that could hit 8,600 by the end of the year. That would easily surpass 2008’s total, which was 6,200 closings, to be the worst year in recent memory.

Here’s some of the companies that have already filed for bankruptcy:

• Gordmans Stores


• Gander Mountain


• Radioshack (again)


• HHGregg


• BCBG Max Azria


• Eastern Outfitters


• Wet Seal


• The Limited


• Vanity Shop of Grand Forks


• Payless Inc.


• MC Sports

And here are the store closings occurring as a result of the retail apocalypse:

A Burgeoning Growth Engine for Costco: Wanton Alcoholism

Costco has to be the single best retail business in the world. A new Costco just opened in area and I signed up for their "executive" membership card, which is something that I feel wholly ridiculous -- but I did so nevertheless.

In order to attain the privilege of shopping there, customers must pay an annual fee. In an era where every retailer is tripping over themselves to attract customers, this concept isn"t dually brilliant and absurd.

Their private brand, Kirkland"s, has also attained legendary status -- viewed by many as representative of value and quality. A new engine of growth for Costco is now enjoyed in wine, beer, and spirits.

Last year, alcohol brought in $3.8b, half coming from bullshit wine. This business has grown by 46% over the past 5 years, outpacing food and sundries.

“Private label continues to grow as a dominant strategy in retail -- especially when it migrates from being a ‘label’ to more of a ‘brand,’ which Kirkland has done,” said David Bassuk, managing director at consulting firm AlixPartners in New York. “Now it’s a well-known name and gives the consumer a perception of value and a good deal.”

 
The reason for their success lies in the perceived value. The company only marks up prices by 10-14% compared to industry norms of 25-40%.
 

“They’re doing the opposite of looking to cut corners,” he said. “They’re looking for maximum quality and minimum markup to drive value for the member.”

 
Other retailers like Whole Foods, Walmart, and Target have entered the private label business for booze too and have enjoyed success, thanks to America"s proclivity to drink themselves into stupors. Even still, Costco is widely regarded as the winner in this high growth space -- clawhammering local liquor stores into a thousand pieces wherever they encounter them.

Both the stock and revenue/earnings trends have been steady eddy, in spite of an overall lackluster retail environment.

Ancillary beneficiaries are $STZ, $DEO and BF-b.

Happy pre St. Paddy"s day.
Content originally generated at iBankCoin.com

Wal-Mart in Trouble

(ANTIMEDIA) Billionaire investor Warren Buffett recently withdrew $900 million worth of shares from Wal-Mart, leading market experts to believe the behemoth retailer is in serious trouble.

This is the fourth consecutive quarter that Buffett’s investment group, Berkshire Hathaway, has reduced its holdings in Wal-Mart, and their most recent downsize leaves them with virtually no remaining shares.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Wal-Mart’s status:

“Analysts polled by FactSet estimate fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.29 a share, down from $1.49 a year earlier. Revenue for the period ending in January is expected to have risen 1% to $131.1 billion.”

In spite of the increase in revenue, Wal-Mart’s prospects appear bleak in the face of the growth of online giant Amazon. At a Berkshire Hathaway meeting last year, Buffett described Amazon as “a big, big force” that “has already disrupted plenty of people and it will disrupt more.” He also said many retailers, “including us in a few areas, have not figured the way to either participate in it or to counter it.”

The Wall Street Journal pointed out the disparity in online sales between Wal-Mart and Amazon:

“The company generated $3.6 billion in e-commerce sales in the third quarter, only 3% of its total revenue. By comparison, Amazon logged $43.7 billion in its most recent reported quarterly revenue.”

Business Insider further compared their profits:

“Walmart’s online sales were $13.7 billion in 2015, compared with Amazon’s $107 billion. Walmart is still ahead in overall sales with $482 billion, more than four times as much as Amazon’s revenue.”

Though Wal-Mart continues to generate massive profits and is working to expand its online sales, it faces hurdles in other regions. For example, as the Wall Street Journal notes, a quarter of its stores are located outside the United States, a reality that may affect its overall sales:

“The strong dollar has hurt Wal-Mart internationally since it gets roughly one-quarter of its total revenue from overseas, with Mexico being a key contributor. Wal-Mart has 2,373 stores in Mexico, roughly 20% of its locations.”

The outlet notes that retailers, “including Wal-Mart have plenty to lose if President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs on trade or a border-adjusted tax. That is because many of them rely heavily on overseas factories for the goods they sell.” As a result, the Wall Street Journal asserts it is unsurprising that Wal-Mart has underperformed since Trump took office, noting their shares have been “essentially unchanged since the presidential election even as the market has raced higher. Wal-Mart has underperformed Amazon by 8 percentage points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 13 percentage points since Nov. 8.”

Though Wal-Mart remains a major retail player with huge profits, the loss of faith from Buffett and the continued growth of Amazon are chipping away at its previously untouchable business model. Add to that the uncertainty of Trump’s trade policies with China and Mexico, and Wal-Mart could be in serious trouble moving forward.

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Warren Buffett Just Sold $900 Million In Walmart Stock – What Does He Know That We Don’t?

NEW YORK — America’s most successful investor is among those who think the nation is on the verge of a “retail apocalypse” that might devastate hundreds of communities.

Warren Buffett has sold almost all of his Walmart stock, which was worth $900 million, Business Insider reported. Buffett had been a major investor in the world’s largest retailer.

Buffett seems to be among those who believe that traditional brick and mortar retailers cannot compete with Amazon. He started selling his Walmart shares last year after calling the ecommerce giant “a big, big force” that “has already disrupted plenty of people, and it will disrupt more.”

Get Out Of The Rat-Race And Make Money Off-Grid!

Buffett has been investing in Amazon since 2003, when he bought $98.3 million worth of that company’s junk bonds.

Traders tend to watch Buffett’s financial moves. Twelve years ago he predicted the problems Sears and Kmart are now having. Sears, the owner of Kmart, is in the process of closing 196 stores because of massive losses. In 2005, Buffett told University of Kansas students that Sears’ acquisition of Kmart would fail.

He also predicted the problems that many department store operators are having. Macy’s is planning to close 68 stores, and retail analysts expect J.C. Penney to start closing stores soon because of poor sales.

Walmart eliminated 7,000 accounting and invoicing positions in its stores last year and will lay off around 1,000 people at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., this year.

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