The majority of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. suppliers say Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke and his managers aren’t explaining their business plans clearly enough, according to a survey.
More than half the 139 suppliers surveyed in a study by recruitment firm Cameron Smith & Associates didn’t agree that “senior leadership is aligned behind a strategic vision that is consistently communicated and well understood by the supplier community.” The Rogers, Arkansas-based group surveyed a small sample of Wal-Mart’s more than 60,000 suppliers.
To win back shoppers, Duke and new U.S. stores chief Bill Simon changed tactics this year and began restoring thousands of products removed during the tenure of former merchandising chief John Fleming. The company has weathered six consecutive quarters of declining sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, and Duke, 61, has projected “positive” sales for this period.
“They are rather frantically returning to past practices by bringing back products and going after their core low-income shopper,” said Leon Nicholas, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based director at consulting firm Kantar Retail, which works with Wal- Mart suppliers. “The big question for a lot of our clients seems to be, ‘Is this going to work?’ So far, it doesn’t seem to be working.”
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