Hidden Cost to EDLP

Fellow student Rachel Griffin submitted the following comments

Wal-Mart executes a nearly perfect marketing strategy, which is hard to beat. But is that good for the welfare of our country? I think Wal-Mart is an example of too much marketing. They enjoy a competitive advantage with all the 5 Ps are in place, but they ignore what society needs in favor of profits. I think the government should step in and prevent this from happening.

The US government took similar action against Microsoft. Why not Wal-Mart? The laws against monopolies don’t apply to Wal-Mart but soon they will. And small towns across the nation have unemployment rates through the roof because very few retailers can compete. Isn’t that a monopoly?

Wal-Mart’s CEO earned $1.2 million in salary and $4.2 million in bonus while at the same time they won’t pay their hourly employees a few hours of overtime. In her book “Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America,” Barbra Ehrenreich went to work at Wal-Mart and struggled to make ends meet. She had more than the average worker with a car and $1,000 for emergencies and no children. If she couldn’t do it, what makes anyone think an average wage worker can?

Wal-Mart is going to be the decline of our country because they have a strong competitive advantage. Shouldn’t there be federal intervention against this kind of company? Isn’t it the government’s responsibility to protect the impoverished people of the nation? Didn’t anyone see this coming?

This New York Times article presents more commentary on Wal-Mart. This web site, Wal-Mart Watch, also provides links to information about the company.