Following the retail supplier community
More than 20 years after the death of Sam Walton, nearly 1,300 suppliers have set up offices within a 27-mile radius of Wal-Mart’s home office in Bentonville.
The supplier community provides roughly 5,800 high-income jobs and brings further socio-economic development and cultural diversity to the region.
Having the supplier offices in Northwest Arkansas is one of the catalysts that buoys income levels and home prices higher than in surrounding counties. This sector also creates a critical mass of top talent from a vast array of industries related to products, services and supply-chain logistics. Not only does this sector support Wal-Mart, but many of the suppliers in Northwest Arkansas also do business with other large national and regional retail companies.
Talk Business & Politics, through the sponsorship of Propak, intends to enhance its coverage of this important economic sector. (Please submit your story tips, ideas and feedback here)
by - December 14, 2017 3:06 pm
Consumers shopping in brick-and-mortar stores could see more robots at work as the cost of technology has come down and the industry struggles to find labor. Since Amazon first began…
by - December 11, 2017 1:51 pm
The 2017 holiday season is already shaping up to be highly promotional. Wal-Mart Stores, Amazon and their competitors seek to woo consumers with price rollbacks, with Wal-Mart already rolling back…
by - December 7, 2017 3:50 pm
Getting products on Wal-Mart shelves is still thought of as reaching the Holy Grail for many suppliers, but the journey can be long and challenging in what is a highly…
by - November 29, 2017 2:41 pm
Denver-based consumer technology startup Ibotta recently set up shop in Northwest Arkansas to try and grow the company’s client list, which already includes dozens of product suppliers and most retailers…
by - November 21, 2017 4:22 pm
The approaching holiday season can be a make-it or break-it time for retailers and their suppliers. Fayetteville-based retail data collection firm Field Agent recently released a report outlining potential pitfalls…
by - November 6, 2017 5:32 pm
The retail industry is undergoing an evolution and the supply chain, the backbone that holds up the important sector, also faces turmoil and challenges, according Colby Beland, vice president of…
by - October 23, 2017 5:20 pm
Wal-Mart Stores recently called for a 10% reduction in chemical footprint by 2022 to help meet the retailer’s sustainability goals. That means suppliers of consumable items such as household cleaners,…
by - October 18, 2017 12:34 pm
The online grocery sector is forecast to grow from $15.1 billion in 2017 to $34.7 billion over the next five years. That’s a healthy increase of $19.6 billion, with an…
by - October 12, 2017 12:57 pm
The future is here in terms of interconnected “smart” devices, also dubbed the internet of things (IoT). While proliferation of the technology is not mainstream among grocery and food companies,…
by - September 26, 2017 2:20 pm
Wal-Mart Stores and many of its online competitors are requiring suppliers to shoulder more of the outbound supply chain risks with drop shipping direct to customer. Forrester Research recently noted…
by - September 21, 2017 10:56 am
Suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores are receiving notice from the retail giant of a cost shift requiring product suppliers to provide price protection for items such as electronics, apparel and toys…
by - September 14, 2017 1:19 pm
While men and women often have similar shopping behaviors there are a few key differences, according to a recent report by Euclid Analytics. The study also found 90% of retail…
by - September 12, 2017 3:27 pm
Machine learning falls under the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), and though the technology has been around for a long time, it’s becoming more relevant when married with big data,…
by - August 30, 2017 6:11 pm
Wal-Mart said without great product availability on its shelves, its promise of delivering low prices is empty. That is why the retail giant recently upped the ante on supply chain…
by - August 29, 2017 1:52 pm
Walmart U.S. management recently unveiled a restructuring of its merchandising teams and at the same time instituted another Supplier Accountability Program which will impose stiff fines for supplier errors. Talk…
by - August 29, 2017 9:21 am
A Missouri-based manufacturer has paid $1.16 million for a vacant commercial building in Benton County, and is planning to relocate its Bentonville office. Vanguard Packaging, which makes point-of-purchase displays, signage,…
by - August 9, 2017 12:44 pm
Ecoark Holdings said Wednesday (Aug. 9) it is exploring a possible spin-off of Zest Labs, one of the portfolio companies owned by the Rogers-based holding company. In a company news…
by - August 8, 2017 12:04 pm
Wal-Mart Stores and other retailers have spent billions trying to gain omnichannel proficiency in the past three years, but few retailers have attained proficiency, according to a recent study conducted…
by - August 1, 2017 7:12 pm
Two Wal-Mart logistics managers spent most of Tuesday morning fielding supplier questions and explaining the reasoning behind the new On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) policy that was first unveiled by the retail giant…
by - July 31, 2017 12:48 pm
More sales of grocery, apparel and even electronics are gravitating online, but consumers still value the option to pick up online orders in-store, according to a recent report from JDA…
