Recently, the news that Wal-Mart is suspected of planning to sell its hypermarket business in China has attracted attention, and Wal-Mart China dismissed the rumors.

It is worth noting that Wal-Mart has closed 80 stores in China in the past four years, coupled with the departure of many senior executives this year, causing speculation in the industry about its direction.

  China's retail industry is undergoing disruptive changes, and how to break the situation has become a new issue that Wal-Mart must face urgently.

With the recent appointment of Zhu Xiaojing, President and CEO of Wal-Mart China, where will Wal-Mart China go, and will it adjust its next plan or layout?

A Wal-Mart China insider said that the new plan was not mentioned after the change of CEO, and it is expected that it will be clear after October.

Refutes the sale of China's hypermarket business

  Recently, some media reported that Wal-Mart had already contacted some companies regarding the sale of part of its equity in China's hypermarket business.

According to the report, a person familiar with the matter said: “The details and progress are not yet clear, but there are indeed contacts. Wal-Mart hopes to introduce strategic investors. However, this possible transaction is still in the early stages. Even if everything goes well, this year The possibility is not too great."

  As soon as the report came out, sayings such as "Wal-Mart is going to withdraw from China", "hypermarkets are no longer good, and new retail is the kingly way" appeared one after another.

Immediately, in response to the rumor, Wal-Mart China issued a statement stating: “Wal-Mart never commented on market rumors and has no plans to sell its Chinese business.”

  In fact, opinions on Wal-Mart's direction in China have been divergent.

On the one hand, a series of actions such as Wal-Mart’s store closure, the departure of executives, and the arrival of a new CEO took place one after another.

On the other hand, the impact of e-commerce has been severe. In recent years, foreign merchants and supermarkets have generally been in poor conditions in China and have sold their shares in China.

Among them, Carrefour China was sold to Suning Tesco, Metro was also sold to local supermarket Wumart, Alibaba became a shareholder of RT-Mart, Tesco, Lotte Mart, and Emart exited the Chinese market.

Various signs have triggered speculation in the industry on where Wal-Mart is going.

 6 stores have been closed this year

  In the impression of Xiao Chen born in the 1980s, Wal-Mart is a must-visit check-in point every week in college.

"At that time, I was listening to CDs. Every time I went to Wal-Mart, I would listen to music and read books for a while." For Xiao Chen, Wal-Mart used to be not only a shopping supermarket, but also a place for leisure and entertainment.

  With the segmentation of the shopping field, the function of Wal-Mart's "hypermarket" has become weaker.

Just in August this year, Wal-Mart's Beijing Haidian Zhichun Road store closed, and the 15-year-old hypermarket bid farewell to everyone in a sigh.

Regarding the reasons for closing the store, Wal-Mart said that because the lease of the venue has expired.

  The industry believes that the current rental, labor costs and other expenses faced by supermarket hypermarkets continue to rise, and market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, which puts greater pressure on business performance.

On the other hand, online shopping and e-commerce have led to a weakening of the existence of large supermarkets, and the outbreak of the epidemic has accelerated the digital development of supermarkets and changed people's shopping habits.

  In fact, Wal-Mart has closed six stores in China this year.

According to incomplete statistics, from 2016 until now, in less than 4 years, Wal-Mart has closed 80 stores in China.

In the "Top 100 Chinese Supermarkets 2019" released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, in 2019, Walmart China ranked fourth with sales of 82.28 billion yuan, behind China Resources Vanguard, RT-Mart and Yonghui.

  Undoubtedly, even if it has been named the world's largest company by Fortune for 7 consecutive years, Wal-Mart, which has sales of more than seven times that of Alibaba, has already gone "downhill" in the Chinese market.

How to break the situation into a new topic with successive changes in the senior management

  The leaks happened in the night rain, and the successive changes in the top level also caused the outside world to worry about the future of Wal-Mart China.

It is reported that Wal-Mart China recently released an internal e-mail of the "Wal-Mart China Management Announcement". The e-mail stated that the two senior vice presidents of the company Chen Zhiyu and Wen Yubin had resigned on August 31 due to personal reasons.

On June 15 this year, Chen Wenyuan, the president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart China, who served for three years, also claimed to have resigned due to personal family reasons.

  On May 8 this year, Zhu Xiaojing succeeded Chen Wenyuan and was appointed President and CEO of Walmart China.

Prior to joining Walmart, Zhu Xiaojing served as the President of New Zealand's Fonterra Group in Greater China.

For this new leader, Wal-Mart also gave a high evaluation.

Walmart Global Executive Vice President Yue Mingde said that China’s retail industry is undergoing disruptive changes. It is important to have a CEO who has a deep understanding of corporate digital operations and an innovative spirit. Zhu Xiaojing’s experience at Fonterra meets Walmart’s expectations for the Chinese market. .

  Industry insiders said that the advantages of supermarket stores have gone, and it should be a move to reduce physical stores and expand digitalization.

How to break the game has also become a new issue that Wal-Mart must face urgently.

In fact, in addition to closing stores, Wal-Mart is pursuing breakthroughs through a series of strategic measures.

As early as 2016, Walmart and JD.com joined hands.

At present, all Wal-Mart stores are online on JD Daojia.

Wal-Mart’s semi-annual report shows that in the first half of this year, Wal-Mart’s net sales in China increased by 10.4% and e-commerce net sales increased by 104%.

In addition, in November last year, Wal-Mart China announced at its annual developer conference that in the next 5-7 years, it plans to open 500 new stores and Yuncang in China, including Wal-Mart Shopping Plaza, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart community stores and more. A format.

  Faced with this year's sudden epidemic, will Wal-Mart China adjust its next plan or layout?

A Wal-Mart China insider told the Beijing News that after changing the CEO, he did not talk about the plan. “If there is, it is estimated that it will have to wait until after October or November.”

  Beijing News reporter Ouyang Xiaojuan