Wal-Mart was established by Sam Walton in 1945; originally, it was a family business. In 1962, Walton founded his first own store copying the style of KMart, the largest discount store in America then. In 1970, the company was incorporated as a publicly held company and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange shortly thereafter ( 註：掛牌上市應該是在1972年 ). Wal-Mart continued to grow rapidly during the 1980s, and in the early 1990s, it surpassed KMart and Sears to become the largest retailer in the world. According to the figures, there were 2833 Wal-Mart stores all over the globe at the end of 1995; of which 2176 were discount stores, 154 were super centers, 453 were Sam’s Clubs (warehouse stores) and 30 were distribution centers. The annual sales of Wal-Mart reached 10.6 billion U.S. Dollars in 1996, profit after tax was more than 300 million U.S. Dollars. Not only was it top of all retailers globally, but when compared with the second placed Sears, its sales figure was 1.7 times and the after tax profit was 1.4 times as that of Sears. On the Fortune Top 50 U.S. companies’ sales revenue, Wal-Mart was listed fourth after General Motors, Ford and Exxon. Until now, Wal-Mart’s impetus of development is still strong as ever. In 1996, Wal-Mart opened its first China store in Shenzhen, it brought along with it a great shock wave to the local retail industry.
眾所周知，零售業屬於進入障礙不高、競爭比較激烈、非高速成長、很難獲得高額利潤的“零碎性行業”。然而，就是在這樣的行業裏，沃爾－馬特卻獲得了如此巨大的成功，秘密何在呢？
大多數人認為，沃爾－馬特成功的秘密在於：（1）有壹個善於鼓舞士氣、善於把握商機的領導山姆.沃頓； （2）形成了壹種人人都提供優質服務的企業文化；（3）鼓勵員工持股，使員工成為公司的“合夥人”；（4）“天天都是低價格”的競爭策略。當然，還有人提到沃爾－馬特對顧客的迎來送往，以及沃爾－馬特的大商店和大規模經營帶來的規模效益。然而，進壹步的研究發現：沃爾－馬特成功的真正秘密，在於它采取的基於實力的競爭戰略。
It is well known that the retail industry is an easily access, keen competitiveness, non-rapid growth, and a low profit “bits and pieces industry”. However, Wal-Mart has achieved such a huge success in this industry; what is the secret?
Most people feel that the secrets of Wal-Mart’s success are: (1) Sam Walton, a leader good at morale inspiring and good at grasping business opportunity; (2) a corporate culture of quality service to everyone; (3) encourages employees to buy shares and become “partners” of the company; and (4) competitive strategy of “Low prices, always”. Of course, other people have mentioned the Wal-Mart customers shuttle service and the benefits from the big store, big scale operations. However, further study revealed the real secret of Wal-Mart success, a competitive strategy based on strong resources.
首先看沃爾－馬特的經營目標。沃爾－馬特的經營目標與其它零售企業相比並沒有什麽太大的區別，它們是：第壹，向顧客提供優質產品，這些產品在顧客想要的時間和地點能夠馬上送至他們手中；第二，加強成本管理，保證產品價格有競爭力；第三，創造和保持壹個絕對可信賴的公司形象。為了實現這些目標，沃爾－馬特把公司補充存貨的方式作為競爭戰略的核心和競爭實力之所在，創建了獨具特色的“跨碼頭（cross-docking）”存貨和運輸系統。此系統不但使沃爾－馬特的經營目標得到了充分的貫徹，更為企業帶來了其它企業難以匹敵的競爭實力。
Firstly, let us look at the Wal-Mart operation objectives; they are not much different from other retailers, (1) Quality products for customers, where and when they want; (2) Enhance cost management to ensure competitiveness of prices; (3) Establish and maintain an absolute trustworthy image. In order to achieve these objectives, Wal-Mart treats the methodology of inventory replenishment as the core of its competing strategy and strength, and builds a unique cross-docking inventory and transportation system. This system not only completely fulfills Wal-Mart’s operation objectives, but establishes an invincible competitiveness as well.
在跨碼頭系統中，貨物被源源不斷地從供應者運送到沃爾－馬特設在各地的貨倉，在那裏經過挑選、再包裝，然後被分送到各個零售網點，其間往往不形成存貨。貨物很少在倉庫裏滯留，總是在流動之中。貨物從配送中心到零售網點的時間自零售網點下單算起不超過48小時。這壹高效率的運作系統，帶來了壹系列明顯的優勢：（1）使沃爾－馬特既充分地利用了運力，又在保證倉庫較高存貨水平的前提下避免了通常會發生的存貨滯留現象和由此而引發的成本，僅此壹項就使沃爾－馬特的銷售成本比行業平均水平節約2％到3％。銷售成本的節約，使沃爾－馬特可以實行“ 天天都是低價格 ”的競爭策略。 （2）低價格反過來降低了促銷活動的必要性，使沃爾－馬特通過減少促銷費用更有效地降低銷售成本。（3）由於“天天都是低價格”，價格相對穩定，使銷售更容易預測，由此缺貨和貨物積壓的可能性被大大降低。（4）低價格把消費者吸引過來，並最終導致了商店單位營業面積銷售收入的提高。
In the cross-docking system, stocks are constantly delivered by suppliers to Wal-Mart’s warehouses everywhere; after selection and packing, they will be sent to various retail outlets, and zero inventories are normally the case, because the stocks are always on the move, little is detained in the warehouse. The distribution centers never take more than 48 hours between the time an order was issued and the goods received by a retail outlet. A series of advantages derive from this highly efficient operation system; (1) It enables Wal-Mart to fully exploit the transportation capability, ensuring a high level of inventory and avoiding the extra cost usually accompanied by over stocking. On this alone, Wal-Mart saves about two to three percent of selling cost compared to the average standard; and this saving enables Wal-Mart to implement the competitive strategy of “Low prices, always”. (2) Low prices reduce the necessity of promotions, and the reduction of promotional costs in turn lower the selling costs effectively. (3) The “Low prices, always” strategy results in relatively stable pricings, making sales forecast much easier and the possibilities of under or over stocked are greatly reduced. (4) The low prices attract the consumers; consequently, the size of the store and the sales revenue are greatly improved.