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 - April 19, 2020 5:11 pm
The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has redefined retail for American consumers who are largely hunkered down at home and going out only for groceries and consumables. That has meant far more…
by - April 16, 2020 3:28 pm
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by - April 11, 2020 10:27 am
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by - April 8, 2020 3:59 pm
Nielsen reports the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry saw a 15-fold jump in sales in mid-March as more Americans adhered to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions. The sales increase…
by - April 4, 2020 10:59 am
Walmart has been ramping up efforts to cash in advertising revenue from its massive supplier base that does business at Walmart.com and in stores. Amazon has used the strategy for…
by - March 28, 2020 1:27 pm
Walmart recently hosted more than 1,700 suppliers for a one-day forum in Rogers, where executives outlined expectations for this year and beyond. Suppliers saw some new faces in crucial leadership…
by - March 26, 2020 12:39 pm
Walmart has announced several new services and made some executive changes in recent weeks to boost e-commerce sales, expand third-party services for increased revenue streams, and try to close the…
by - March 14, 2020 11:58 am
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by - February 29, 2020 9:41 am
The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently teamed with data science leader IBM to study global consumer shopping trends, which the researchers said have fundamentally changed. The biggest change to shopping…
by - February 22, 2020 10:20 am
Editor’s note: Since this story was originally published in the Feb. 17 issue of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, Walmart reported fourth-quarter and fiscal 2020 earnings. In the quarter ending…
by - February 15, 2020 11:17 am
Artificial intelligence (AI), otherwise known as machine learning, is slowly reshaping retail from optimizing back-end supply chain operations to in-store execution. It is also impacting marketing, customer service engagement and…
by - February 8, 2020 10:35 am
Direct-to-consumer brand SmileDirectClub is spreading its wings with a recent deal that puts oral care products in 3,800 U.S. Walmart stores. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company approached Walmart about a year…
by - February 5, 2020 1:40 pm
Nielsen Brandbank is partnering with Springdale-based WhyteSpyder’s SKU Ninja service to provide retailers and brands more insights and richer content creation aimed at increasing online sales. The partners announced the…
by - February 3, 2020 12:59 pm
One of the most surprising retail trends of 2019 included more digitally native brands seeking brick-and-mortar exposure, according to Scott Benedict, director at the Center for Retail Studies at Texas…
by - January 26, 2020 5:24 pm
Industry analysts expect several changes for the consumer packaged goods industry in 2020. Top predictions include increased demand for pet products, further integration of the in-store and online shopping experiences…
by - January 23, 2020 1:59 pm
Merchants, also known as buyers, are at the core of Walmart’s retail operation. Sam Walton was a merchant at heart, as are president and CEO Doug McMillon and Walmart U.S….
by - January 19, 2020 11:56 am
With the increase in online purchases and the shorter holiday shopping season in 2019, the United Parcel Service estimates it will ship more than 1 million packages per day back…
by - January 16, 2020 10:15 am
The retail sector will continue to face headwinds in 2020. The National Retail Federation (NRF), with the help of its members and researchers from Bain Capital, TrendWatching, Code Commerce and…
by - January 8, 2020 11:52 am
Innovation is a must for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. They continually face brutal competition from disruptive brands and a massive effort from retailers growing their private branded businesses. Nielsen…
by - December 30, 2019 11:42 am
Through the first 49 weeks of the year, U.S. retailers have announced more than 9,271 store closures, nearly double the amount recorded in 2018. There is no sign when the…
