沃尔玛大举押宝中国市场

    零售巨头沃尔玛首席执行官董明伦表示，计划到2017年在中国新开115家门店，将在华业务规模扩大近三分之一。尽管增长减缓，但沃尔玛正发起吸引中国消费者的新一轮攻势。

    上周三，董明伦在北京的新闻发布会上说：“我们希望成为中国经济不可或缺的一部分。中国市场是重中之重。”

    近来跨国超市在中国的业务放缓，正纷纷寻找对策，在此背景下，沃尔玛掀起了这轮在华新攻势。今年2月沃尔玛披露的数据显示，截至1月31日的财季中，其在华净销售额下降了0.7%，可比同店销售额也减少了2.3%。

    除了增开新店提升销售额之外，这家全球最大的零售商还将关闭一些表现欠佳的分店，并借助“1号店”业务切入增长更快的线上零售市场。董明伦表示，他为1号店的平台发展前景而振奋，其可提供的商品种类已从2011年的1.8万种增至2014年底的800万种。

    这家总部位于美国阿肯色州本顿维尔的零售商称，它在中国的115家新门店将分布在上海、深圳和武汉等城市，开业时间为2015-2017年，但没有透露对新店的投资额。年报显示，截至今年1月底，中国有411家沃尔玛连锁店。沃尔玛周三表示，今年将对现有的50多家门店进行改造，预计耗资逾3.7亿元人民币（6000万美元）。

    沃尔玛亚洲业务负责人贝思哲表示，公司将关闭一些经营不善的门店，但未透露具体数量。去年沃尔玛已在中国关了29家店。针对最近的销售情况，贝思哲说：“零售销售额略显疲软，但我们在大型超市领域的市场份额提高了。”

    就在上周二，市场分析机构凯度消费者指数发布报告称，过去五年，沃尔玛、法国家乐福和英国乐购三大跨国连锁超市的销售增速均出现了下滑，其市场份额正被一些地方竞争对手蚕食。

    咨询公司OC&C对六家大型食品杂货零售商的分析显示，去年零售巨头的同店平均销售额都出现了负增长。

    董明伦也谈及了沃尔玛目前正在进行的账目自查，以及政府部门对其的调查情况。他表示沃尔玛正投入资金改善系统和流程，以遵守美国《反海外腐败法》规定。

    董明伦表示：“遵纪守法对沃尔玛来说，是一项高优先度任务。”在截至今年1月31日的财年中，沃尔玛在调查与合规方面花费了1.73亿美元，之前一个财年更是投入了2.82亿美元。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审校：夏林

    Giant U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to expand its footprint in China by nearly a third by opening 115 new stores by 2017, the firm’s chief executive said, in a renewed push to lure China’s grocery shoppers despite slowing growth.

    “Our aim is to become an integral part of China’s economy,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday. “China is a top priority.”

    Wal-Mart’s new push in China comes as global supermarket firms seek ways to tackle slowing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. Wal-Mart in February said its China net sales declined 0.7% for the quarter ended Jan. 31, with comparable same-store sales falling 2.3%.

    As well as new stores to boost sales, the world’s biggest retailer will close some under-performing stores and seek to tap into the faster-growing online grocery market through its Yihaodian.com service. McMillon said he was excited by prospects for a platform that offered 8 million products at end-2014, up from just 18,000 items in 2011.

    The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said the 115 new stores will be opened in cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan between 2015 to 2017, without saying how much it would invest in the new outlets. It had 411 stores in China at the end of January this year, according to its annual report: The retailer said on Wednesday it will remodel more than 50 of these this year at a cost of more than 370 million yuan ($60 million).

    Scott Price, head of Wal-Mart’s Asia operations, said the retailer would close an unspecified number of poorly performing stores after shutting 29 outlets in China last year. Commenting on recent sales trends, Price said, “There is some softening in retail sales but we’ve gained share … in the hypermarket channel.”

    Wal-Mart, France’s Carrefour SA and Britain’s Tesco PLC have all seen sales growth slip over the last five years, losing market share to local rivals, according to a report published on Tuesday from consumer analytics firm Kantar Worldpanel.

    Average same-store sales growth dropped into negative territory last year, according to an analysis of six major grocers by consultancy OC&C.

    CEO McMillon also addressed ongoing investigations into Wal-Mart’s accounting by the company itself and government agencies. He said the company was investing in improving systems and processes to bolster compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corruption Practices Act.

    “Being compliant with the law,” McMillon said, “That’s a high priority for us.” For the year ended Jan. 31, Walmart spent $173 million on investigations and compliance programs, after spending $282 million a year earlier.