Walmart Mission Statement and Vision Statement

Walmart’s mission can be summarized as “helping people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores and through eCommerce.” Its vision is to “make every day easier for busy families.” Walmart defines “busy families” as the bull’s eye of its business strategy and Walmart’s business model.

Aspect	Details	Analysis
Mission	“Helping people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores and through eCommerce.”	– Walmart’s mission emphasizes global reach, cost savings, and convenience for customers through a multi-channel approach. – Savings and improved living standards are core themes.
Vision	“Make every day easier for busy families.”	– Walmart’s vision focuses on simplifying the lives of busy families. This vision is customer-centric and reflects a commitment to enhancing convenience.
Business Model Evolution	– Walmart has adapted its business model as technology and customer preferences have evolved. – The core values of price, assortment, and experience have remained fundamental. – Integration of eCommerce has become an integral part of the business model.	– Adapting to digital transformation while maintaining core values highlights Walmart’s ability to evolve with the market. – Combining physical and online retail reflects a customer-centric approach.
Core Values	– Price: Offering competitive prices to enable customer savings. – Assortment: Providing a wide range of product choices. – Experience: Creating positive and enjoyable shopping experiences.	– These core values are aligned with Walmart’s mission and drive its customer-focused approach. – They are instrumental in establishing Walmart as a cost-effective and customer-friendly retail giant.
Business Strategy	– Mastering fundamentals for consistent quality and value. – Leveraging unique assets to meet customer needs proactively. – Maintaining a forward-looking perspective to adapt to industry trends.	– Walmart’s business strategy emphasizes operational excellence, customer engagement, and innovation. – A holistic approach to business ensures long-term relevance and competitiveness.
Target Market	– Focus on busy families, often residing in suburban areas. – Typically, 1-2 sources of income with annual earnings between $75,000 and $125,000.	– Concentrating on this specific demographic enables Walmart to tailor its offerings to the needs of a significant consumer segment. – Understanding the target market informs product selection and services.
Technology Integration	– Recognizes technology’s role in modern life, especially among busy families. – Emphasizes digital platforms, mobile apps, and online services for a better shopping experience.	– Walmart’s integration of technology enhances convenience, personalization, and accessibility. – Aligning with changing tech trends reflects adaptability and customer-centricity.
Jetblack Program	– Launched in 2018, offering a subscription-based personalized shopping service. – Aims to simplify shopping for busy families with tailored product recommendations and convenient delivery options.	– The Jetblack program exemplifies Walmart’s commitment to serving the needs of its target market. – Subscription models enhance customer loyalty and convenience. – Personalization enhances the shopping experience.

Table of Contents

Walmart’s business model evolution

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, said that “the secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want.”

And he continued, “and really if you think about it from your point of view as a customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good-quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.”

While those are things that people did want in the past, the world has also changed substantially. As technology has evolved, the experience of Walmart customers has also moved from physical to digital.

That has made Walmart adjust its core value proposition, and it also made it adapt its business model. At the core, as we’ll see in this analysis, the three elements (price, assortment, and experience) remain three critical values of Walmart’s mission statement.

Breaking down Walmart’s mission statement

Walmart Inc. helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores and through eCommerce.

Therefore, Walmart’s mission informs its business strategy and how also this has changed over the years. For instance, while the core of the Walmart business model has stayed the same, its strategy has adapted to new technologies.

E-commerce was not a core part of the Walmart business strategy. Currently, instead, Walmart has incorporated this part within its mission.

As highlighted in the Walmart Investment Community Meeting of 2017:

90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart. There’s 1.4 million associates, and Walmart’s the largest grocer in the U.S. So when we think about some of these assets and we think about playing offense, we think about it across 3 dimensions: price, assortment and experience.

Therefore, Walmart’s mission and business strategy revolve around three critical dimensions:

Price
Assortment
And Experience

The remaining vital aspects are related to the following:

Price, by allowing families to “saving money,” therefore low prices
Assortment, by making Walmart “anytime and anywhere,” which is reinforced by the presence of Walmart stores across the US
And experience by leveraging experienced and knowledgeable salespeople

Let’s see more in detail about Walmart’s vision statement and why that matters.

Breaking down Walmart’s vision statement

In its Investment Community Meeting of 2017, Walmart executives highlighted where its direction for the future:

What is the direction? We want to be the destination for customers to save money no matter how they want to shop, whether it be pickup, delivery in 2 days or deliver in 2 hours. The idea is to save customers money at any service level.

And it clarified its vision as:

We want to make every day easier for busy families. That’s our vision

Understanding Walmart’s vision is essential, as well as understanding its business strategy. Which is summarized in the Investment Community Meeting as follows:

In summary, the strategy is very simple. We’re going to be maniacally focused on just nailing the fundamentals. We’re going to look for ways to play offense by leveraging unique assets. And we’re going to be focused on innovating for the future.

Therefore, Walmart’s business strategy leverages three key ingredients:

Maniacally focusing and nailing the fundamentals
Play offense by leveraging Walmart unique assets
Innovating for the future

What does Walmart mean when it says “making every day easier for busy families?”

Understanding its definition and why Walmart picked this market segment will help us capture its direction:

So let’s talk about making every day easier for busy families. Why busy families? Well, it’s a big part of the market, and we’ve learned that what we do to effectively serve them helps us serve everybody else, so they’re the center of the bull’s eye.

Choosing a big enough market is a fundamental problem in the entrepreneurial world.

That is why investors often demand startups clearly understand their TAM or total addressable market.

A total addressable market or TAM is the available market for a product or service. That is a metric usually leveraged by startups to understand the business potential of an industry. Typically, a large addressable market is appealing to venture capitalists willing to back startups with extensive growth potential.

To clarify, this isn’t a straightforward issue.

When companies are opening up new spaces and markets, none knows how big that market will be.

For instance, when smartphones took over, it became a massive market, and many companies have already moved to a mobile-first world.

Walmart picked the “busy families” because, according to them, it represents a good chunk of the families.

That makes them focus on a particular segment and informs their business strategy.

This focus allows a better and more effective execution. It also creates a flywheel or virtuous cycle.

As Walmart points out, they learned that by serving a specific segment, they end up doing anyone else better.

But who are those busy families? As pointed out in the Investment Community Meeting of 2017:

So we really have 1 member. And I want you to think of them like this. It’s a busy family, typically living in the suburbs of 1 or 2 incomes. They make somewhere between $75,000 and $125,000 a year. They may own a couple of cars. They may be employed or self-employed. They may own a small restaurant or run a small office and purchase a few things for their business.

Walmart has a clear idea of its key market segment.

Once again, this is a simplification. And it allows focus, as specified by Walmart executives:

So we’re moving forward and we’re moving quickly to align the entire business around this more narrow focus. We’re evaluating everything from our membership offering to our merchandise categories to our locations, and we’ve got some important choices to make in the future.

And what’s going on with those busy families, according to Walmart?

What’s happening with them? Well, you know they’re more connected. They’ve embraced mobile in a big way. In fact, globally, around the world, mobile commerce has grown by about 80% just in 2 years.

Therefore, as technology evolves, Walmart uses it and incorporates it in its mission and vision to serve better its target segment.

And that is why Walmart is becoming more and more of a digital company:

Technology will also help serve up things to customers that they might want to do. So becoming more of a digital company and learning how to work with speed is important to us throughout.

As Walmart’s business model adapts to the future technology landscape, it also adapts its value proposition!

This is critical as a business model is the fruit of a long-term vision and a shorter-term mission.

And as a business strategy changes and adapts, the fundamentals of a business model (its value proposition) also adapt and change. This is eventually reflected in the financials.

It is important to remark that technology helps an organization to better serve its target. This also implies a change in its monetization strategy.

However, its core values stay the same.

For instance, in 2018, Walmart started to roll out a program called Jetblack to serve “busy families” that, for a fixed membership price, could get a customized sales experience.

As of 2022, 2,751,779,629 Shares were outstanding for Walmart. The company’s major shareholder is the Walton family, whose mission is to “help people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores and through eCommerce.” While its vision is to “make every day easier for busy families.” Walmart defines “busy families” as the bull’s eye of its business strategy. From humble beginnings just over 50 years ago, Walmart’s business model has become the world’s largest retail company.

Walmart in numbers

Let’s look at some of Walmart’s critical financials for 2021:

Key Highlights

Mission and Vision:
- Walmart’s mission is centered around assisting people globally in achieving savings and improved living standards. This mission is accomplished through a combination of their retail stores and online eCommerce platforms. It emphasizes the company’s commitment to offering cost-effective solutions to its customers. Simultaneously, Walmart’s vision revolves around simplifying the lives of busy families by providing services and products that cater to their convenience and needs.
Core Values:
- Walmart’s mission encapsulates three core values: price, assortment, and experience. The company strives to offer competitive prices that enable customers to save money. Moreover, their commitment to a diverse and extensive assortment of products ensures that customers have access to a wide range of choices. Lastly, Walmart places significant emphasis on providing a positive shopping experience that is both satisfying and enjoyable for their customers.
Evolution of Business Model:
- Over time, Walmart’s business model has evolved to integrate the growing significance of eCommerce in addition to their traditional retail approach. Recognizing the digital transformation of the retail landscape, Walmart adapted its core value proposition to encompass online shopping experiences alongside physical store visits. This evolution enables customers to access Walmart’s offerings through various channels, aligning with changing consumer preferences.
Business Strategy:
- Walmart’s business strategy is founded on three key principles. Firstly, they emphasize the importance of mastering the fundamental aspects of their operations to provide consistent quality and value to customers. Secondly, Walmart capitalizes on its unique assets and strengths to proactively engage and satisfy customer needs. Lastly, the company maintains a forward-looking perspective, continuously innovating to adapt to emerging trends and technologies in the retail industry.
Target Market:
- Walmart’s strategic focus centers on catering to the needs of busy families, particularly those residing in suburban areas. These families typically have 1-2 sources of income and earn within the range of $75,000 to $125,000 annually. By understanding and addressing the needs of this specific segment, Walmart is better positioned to create tailored solutions that resonate with their target audience.
Technology Integration:
- Technology is a pivotal component of Walmart’s strategy to serve its customers effectively. The company recognizes the increasing role of technology in modern life, especially among busy families. This integration involves leveraging digital platforms, mobile applications, and online services to enhance the shopping experience, provide convenience, and offer personalized solutions based on customer preferences.
Jetblack Program:
- The Jetblack program, introduced by Walmart in 2018, exemplifies the company’s commitment to meeting the unique demands of busy families. This initiative offers a subscription-based service that provides personalized shopping experiences to members. Through this program, Walmart aimed to simplify the shopping process for busy families by offering tailored product recommendations, convenient delivery options, and other value-added services

Read: Mission Statement Examples.

Mission Statement Case Studies

Adidas Mission Statement

Adidas’ mission is “To be the best sports brand in the world.” Adidas AG is a German multinational initially founded in 1924 by Adolf Dassler who developed spiked running shoes out of his mother’s house. Today, the company is the largest sportswear producer in Europe and the second largest globally behind rival Nike.

Uber Mission Statement

Uber’s mission statement is to ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.

Tesla Mission Statement

Tesla’s vision is to “create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles,” while its mission is “to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.” Tesla used a transitional business model as its ecosystem grows.

Amazon Mission Statement

Amazon’s mission statement is to “serve consumers through online and physical stores and focus on selection, price, and convenience.” Amazon’s vision statement is “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.”

Apple Mission Statement

Apple’s mission is “to bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.” And in a manifesto dated 2019 Tim Cook set the vision specified as “We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing.”

Netflix Mission Statement

Netflix’s core mission, strategy, and vision are that of “improving its members’ experience by expanding the streaming content with a focus on a programming mix of content that delights members and attracts new members.”

Coca-Cola Mission Statement

Coca-Cola’s Purpose is to “refresh the world. make a difference.” Its vision and mission are to “craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. And done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better-shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities, and our planet.”

Starbucks Mission Statement

Starbucks highlights its mission as “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” And its vision is to “treat people like family, and they will be loyal and give their all.”

Microsoft Mission Statement

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. With over $110 billion in revenues in 2018, Office Products and Windows are still the main products. Yet the company also operates in Gaming (Xbox), Search Advertising (Bing), Hardware, LinkedIn, Cloud, and more.

Walmart Mission Statement

Nike Mission Statement

Nike vision is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” While its mission statement is to “do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team and by making a positive impact in communities where we live and work.”

Google Mission Statement

Google mission statement is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Its vision statement is to “provide an important service to the world-instantly delivering relevant information on virtually any topic.” In 2019, Sundar Pichai emphasized a renewed mission to allow people “to get things done!”