When it comes to giant retailers, Walmart
is a cut above the rest. It is the largest
private employer in the US. And its annual
revenue is in the hundreds of billions. That’s
the budget of a small European country. But
not everything is rosy for the large corporation.
No company wants anything out there that would
tarnish its image. So let’s uncover 10 Secrets
Walmart Doesn't Want You To Know (Part 2).
Owned by a Wealthy Family
The first fact about Walmart relates to the
owners. Understandably this is one nugget
the wealthy family wouldn’t like to get
around. But it’s not exactly a secret that
the Waltons own the large retailer which makes
them the richest family in the world. Even
oil companies can’t compete with the riches
of these guys. So what does that tell us besides
the fact that the first part of the retailer’s
name comes from the family name? It actually
tells us a lot. Especially if we add another
fact about the low wages and harsh working
conditions of the employees. We’ve already
covered that point in Part 1 of this series.
When you think of the richest family in the
world adding billions to their wealth every
year while the employees are only getting
poorer, you can understand why the Waltons
prefer to stay out of the limelight. Now don’t
get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with
being rich. The only thing that is wrong here
is that if you as the owner keep getting richer
by exploiting your workers and not sharing
your profits with them. Walmart would rather
pay the shareholders than raise the wages
of the employees to $15 an hour. We’ve all
heard about corporate greed, but this one
takes the cake.
Day-Old Bread is just as Yummy
That was a dark start. So let’s turn our
attention to something that would benefit
you if you shop at Walmart. It’s about bread.
We all love the smell of fresh bread. But
living in a city makes the chance of seeing
fresh bread coming out of the oven as rare
as spotting a unicorn strolling down Times
Square. And since most of us get our bread
from the supermarket, the expiry date is the
way to tell if it’s actually fresh or not.
If you buy your bread from Walmart, take a
walk down the bakery aisle. There you’ll
find day-old bread and other bakery products.
For one thing, they’re cheaper than the
fresh ones. But other than the price, there’s
not much difference between them and the ones
that were baked on the same day. They both
taste the same, smell the same, and look the
same. So why not save a few bucks on your
bakery items every week? You can get a loaf
of bread for as low as one dollar. Of course,
Walmart offers these huge discounts because
the company would rather sell them at any
price rather than throw them away. So it’s
a win-win for everyone.
Cheap Labor
We’ve talked before about big corporations
running overseas sweatshops and sometimes
utilizing child labor to cut down on costs
and increase their profit. A quick Google
search will yield plenty of scandals of this
type. But what’s new here is that you don’t
need to go overseas to find cheap labor. Why
go through the trouble when you have private
prison systems that offer an endless supply
of convicts all year round? And it’s all
legal. Now, these convicts who are forced
to work for as low as $2 an hour don’t work
directly for Walmart. There’s no chance
of that. Just think of the public outcry if
you discovered that the guy who stocked the
shelves at the fresh produce section was a
convict serving a life sentence. It wouldn’t
look good. So instead these modern-day slaves
work in farms harvesting veggies and fruits.
What’s more, it turns out that this systematic
exploitation of prisoners isn’t unique to
the US either. In China, this unjust practice
is widespread and involves forcing prisoners
to work 14 hours a day in harsh and inhumane
conditions. And all so that we can get our
groceries at a low price while the shareholders
in Walmart get higher returns on their investment.
Welcome to the real world.
The Sweet Dollar Deals
We mentioned that if you know where to look
you can find a loaf of bread selling for one
dollar at Walmart. Luckily there’s no cheap
labor involved here and the low prices are
part of a marketing campaign to attract customers.
Furthermore, a loaf of bread is not the only
thing you can get for a buck at the giant
retailer. Much like a dollar store, Walmart
offers its customers the occasional dollar
deal to keep them coming back. The trick is
to know when such deals are on and which aisles
have the coveted cheap merchandise. Sometimes
you can get shampoos, deodorants, and other
personal grooming products at a dollar apiece.
So it’s always a good idea to check there
more often. You’ll also find gift cards
and greeting cards for this low price all
year round. These gifts are reserved for the
people you don’t care very much about but
still have to send them a gift anyway. Some
websites like I Heart the Mart keep a page
dedicated to these dollar deals at Walmart.
So it’s worth checking there before you
head over to your nearest Walmart for your
regular shopping.
Walmart and the Cops
We all try to love and respect the police.
From a distance, that is. Nobody likes to
have a cop tailing them. On the road, a police
car is always better ahead of you than behind
you. This is not a reflection of a guilty
conscience. It’s just that when a cop approaches,
it’s often followed by a knot in your stomach
and the assumption you must have done something
wrong - or that you’re about to blamed for
something you didn’t do. Walmart, on the
other hand, has a deep love for cops. See,
Walmart employees like to call the cops a
lot. More so than other businesses that deal
with the public. Someone lifts a $3 pack of
tissues? Call the cops. A hungry guy makes
it out the door with a day-old loaf of bread?
Bring the wrath of the police force on them.
It’s ridiculous. Where’s the Walmart security,
I hear you ask? Well, that’s the point.
Walmart would rather the local cops handle
incidents of petty theft than the company
pay for their own security system. Why hire
mall cops when you have the men and women
in blue a phone call away? And if you’re
thinking that this would only stretch the
police force and keep them from dealing with
a serious crime, you wouldn’t be wrong.
But that trivial point doesn’t seem to bother
the management at Walmart, as long as it keeps
costs down.
Free Shipping Obviously
This is one nifty trick that many people may
not know about and will save you a lot of
money and time while you’re shopping. If
you like to shop online, you’ll be pleased
to know that Walmart delivers your purchases
to your home free of charge. The minimum order
has to be $35, however. Sweet. But what if
your order is less than that? Easy. You can
choose the ship-to-store option. It means
your order will be ready for you to pick up
at any store of your choosing. Here’s how
you can use that option to your advantage.
Say your day is packed with errands and you
don’t have time to go to Walmart and spend
hours walking down aisles, picking stuff,
and having to wait in lines at the cashier.
Just make your shopping trip online and have
them ship it to the store. Now all you need
to do drop by the store later that day or
the next day and pick up your order. It doesn’t
get easier than that. You save time and also
money since online prices are usually cheaper
than the ones in the physical store.
Win the Price Wars
I think we can all agree that one of the best
features of capitalism is the fact that it
doesn’t tolerate one person or company to
have a monopoly over the market - usually.
At least there are rules and regulations in
place to prevent such manipulative practices.
And no matter what you think of Walmart or
its closest rival, Amazon, you must appreciate
their rivalry. As consumers, we like to see
the price wars rage on as each retailer tries
to seduce us with huge discounts and amazing
promotions. It’s a thrilling feeling to
snag a deal online or buy a TV set for next
to nothing. So the question now is, how can
you best benefit from the price feud between
the two giants? Easy enough: compare prices
online and make sure you get the best deal.
There’s no point in being a loyal customer
to one retailer or the other when you can
save real cash on your weekly shopping. Remember
that free shipping service we talked about
previously? It wouldn’t be possible if Amazon
wasn’t trying to woo customers with free
shipping as well. It’s a great time to be
alive, isn’t it?
Seek the Coupons
One of the best things about Walmart is that
it allows you to keep the change on your coupon.
Say you have a $10 coupon and you made a purchase
for $8.35, that leaves you with $1.65. Walmart
will let you keep that dollar, 65 cents and
use it in future shopping. Now you can understand
why your Aunt Myrtle spends hours scouring
papers and website looking for Walmart coupons.
So where can you get your hands on these coupons?
We’ll save you the embarrassment of having
to ask Aunt Myrtle (she probably won’t tell
you anyway, not after you insulted her pooch
and called her cat neurotic) and we’ll just
refer you to some good websites. You can visit
I Heart the Mart or Passion for Savings to
find coupons and special deals. It also helps
to follow Walmart on social media such as
Twitter where they post special offers on
a regular basis. Chasing coupons might sound
like a waste of time. But when you see the
savings you can make on your grocery shopping,
you’ll probably change your mind and decide
to make coupon hunting a regular pastime of
yours. And nobody has to know.
It’s all in the Price Tag
This is definitely a secret that Walmart wouldn’t
want you to know about. It has to do with
the price tag code the company uses. When
you see a new item on the shelf such as a
lamp or toaster, you might be tempted to buy
it before it gets picked by other customers.
But that’s not usually a good idea. Time
is on your side here when planning your shopping
strategy. Large retailers like Walmart don’t
like products with a heavy butt. By that,
we mean items that stay on the shelves for
months on end. A quick turn over is the goal
of every retailer. So when an item sits around
for weeks without making a sale, the company
usually gives it a new price tag with a discount.
So how do you know if this is the first price
tag or a final one? That’s where the price
tag code comes in. If the price tag ends
with a 7, then it’s a new item and this
is the original price. So a pen that sells
for $2.97 means it just got here and if you
wait a little, the price will come down. The
discounted price usually ends with a 5. So
a few weeks later you might find the same
pen selling for $2.35. When the product still
won’t sell, Walmart will give it a few more
discounts. The final price usually ends with
a 1. Keep that in mind the next time you want
to buy at the retailer.
New Parents get Free Stuff
As we mentioned before, not all big corporations
are evil. And not all their marketing strategies
are aimed at snaring the customers and fleecing
them. Certainly not this one, which is a good
practice by the giant retailer. New parents
will get a free baby box. You’ll need to
fill out a form on the Walmart website. Just
navigate to the baby box page to apply. Sure
enough, Walmart will send a baby box to your
home free of charge. So what’s in the box?
Well, as expected, you’ll find lots of stuff
related to babies. From pacifiers to diapers,
nursing pads, wipes, and feeding bottles.
Most of these free samples will give you a
leg up in the new parenthood thing and help
you try the products before you buy them.
Naturally, you'll be purchasing loads of these
baby items so it's always a good idea to know
which brands are good for your baby.
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