- Walmart has its hand in retail and e-commerce in 27 countries worldwide, according to its website .
- The company's first store outside the United States was a Sam's Club in Mexico City, which opened in 1991, according to its website .
- Walmart has struggled to expand into markets abroad for years. Competing discount chains across the globe that are able to offer shoppers better prices and service shoppers with unique needs pose a threat that the company doesn't quite face in the US.
- After trying and failing at putting its own name on stores in certain countries, the biggest retailer in America and the world decided to start acquiring or investing in existing warehouses and wholesalers to keep its hand in the international business game.
- Some locations, like Brazil and China , continue to be challenging for Walmart.
- See what the Walmart banners look like around the world and what some of these stores are selling.
Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world, but its stores in other countries often go by different names. Here's what they look like and what you can buy there. (WMT)
China Photos / Stringer / Getty Images
Source: Newsday
In addition to expanding its assortment on Walmart.com, the retailer has acquired a number of digital-focused brands since 2010.
Walmart.com
Source: Newsday, Business Insider
On Jet.com the e-commerce site Walmart bought for $3.3 billion in 2016 shoppers get an extremely localized and personalized experience.
Jet.com
Source: Business Insider
Shoppers can order electronics, shoes, groceries, toys, and a toothbrush all in one package kind of like what they'd be able to get from a regular in-person trip to Walmart.
Jet.com
Source: Jet.com
Walmart has its hand in retail and e-commerce in 27 countries, with more than 11,200 retail units working under 55 banners worldwide.
Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
Source: Walmart
The global expansion hasn't come easy for the world's biggest retailer, though.
Ajay Verma/Reuters
Source: The New York Times , Bloomberg
The initial effort put the Walmart name on stores around the globe, but it proved rather difficult for the company to correctly identify the needs of its non-American consumers.
Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
Source: The New York Times
After multiple failed attempts to expand the Walmart brand into Europe, the company began to change its approach to international growth.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Source: The New York Times
It became less concerned with having the Walmart name on every store and instead focused on acquiring pre-existing discount stores.
Thomson Reuters
Source: The New York Times
Enter: Walmart's global family of superstore chains.
Julio Cortez/AP Photo
Some countries around the world do have stores that bear the Walmart and Sam's Club names.
Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
Source: Walmart
But Walmart is often behind stores with other names. In the UK, Walmart has owned the collection of Asda stores since 1999. In 2018, Walmart announced a plan to merge Asda with Sainsbury's to create a British retail giant.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Walmart's African operations are run through Massmart, a retail group that Walmart acquired a majority stake in in 2011. Its stores include Jumbo Cash and Carry, which are located throughout southern Africa, ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... Game, which sells general goods and non-perishable grocery items at a discounted price across sub-Saharan Africa, ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... Builders, a collection of home-and-gardening stores, ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... DionWired, selling tech and electronics, ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... Cambridge and Rhino, which offers people on the lower end of the Southern African Living Standards Measurement scale the sliding scale used by the region to divide the market into targetable groups a hand-curated selection of both nationwide food and cosmetics brands and merchandise that falls under the store's own label ...
Courtesy of Walmart
... and Makro warehouse clubs in South Africa, which sell food, general goods, and liquor at a low price.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Superama is Mexico's leading supermarket and has all the typical goods a grocery store in the US would carry: produce, wine, cleaning supplies, etc. ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... and Bodega Aurrera is a discount store selling food and household goods at low prices across Mexico and Central America.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Walmart fully acquired Seiyu one of Japan's largest supermarkets in 2008, and the company has since taken steps toward better market research in hopes of improving its all-around customer service in the country.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Changomas is a store designed to meet the needs of all communities in Argentina. It has three different store levels, each one bigger and carrying more goods than the one before it.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Despensa Familiar in Honduras is one of four Walmart-owned discount stores selling a range of general goods across Central America ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... and Pali in Costa Rica is another.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Walmart made a major investment in a China hypermarket or, a really large grocery store called Trust-Mart in 2007.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
The company also opened a Sam's Club in China, famously selling bulk goods at low prices.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Lider is a hypermarket in Chile that's said to be a "one-stop shop" ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
... and Canada boasts the brand's eponymous Walmart Supercentre, which features services like pharmacies.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Bompreo is another hypermarket Walmart acquired in Brazil in the '90s.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart Brazil , Reuters
Maxxi Atacado is another part of Walmart Brazil ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Reuters
... as is Nacional. In June, Walmart sold 80% of its operations in Brazil, as it was largely underperforming in the market. It took a $4.5 billion charge on the deal.
Courtesy of Walmart
Best Price Modern Wholesale is a membership-based wholesaler with 23 stores and two fulfillment centers across India ...
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Walmart Supercenter stores in China offer localized meat, produce, and dry goods along with clothes, electronics, and more.
Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Walmart
Walking into any Walmart in the US, you pretty much know what to expect in terms of the shopping experience you're about to have.
AP/David J. Phillip
Stores have clearly marked aisles and sale signs ...
Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
... and you'll see a smiling face at checkout. While whoever's helping you might actually be genuinely happy, The New York Times reported in 2006 that the company requires its US sales clerks to smile.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Source: The New York Times
This isn't the case at other locations around the world, as some people have reported that the constant smiling made them feel uncomfortable, rather than putting them at ease.
Ajay Verma/Reuters
Source: The New York Times
Shop at a Walmart overseas and you may find yourself wandering past a fish tank ...
AP / Ng Han Guan
Source: Business Insider
... or walking along aisles of a wholesale store that look more like a Costco warehouse than the typical stateside discount superstore.
Ajay Verma/Reuters
Walmart first opened in China in 1996. It has since expanded across the country here is one store in Beijing's Chaoyang district.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
It has been a struggle for the company to hold onto this "crucial" market as it vies for consumers' trust and belief in the stores as an authentic shopping option.
Feng Li / Getty
Source: Reuters
One Business Insider reporter, Harrison Jacobs, went inside the Beijing Walmart store to see what it's like to shop there.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
He was able to see the differences between the China-based location and the ones in the US. For starters, there are customer lockers when you first walk in the door.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
On these shelves, he found high-end cosmetics right next to discount toilet paper, and there were lots and lots of pre-packaged foods.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
Shelves are stocked with a wide range of items in an effort to cater to local shoppers. In Beijing, it's common for apartments not to feature a stove, so the Beijing Walmart sells a variety of hot plates.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
There are also tanks of live fish ...
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
... turtles and frogs ...
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
... and a selection of meat like chicken feet.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
While the hypermarkets, supercenters, and membership-based stores around the world may fall under different brand names ...
Mike Hutchings/Reuters
Source: Walmart International
... they all attempt to give local customers the best prices for the goods they want.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Source: Walmart International
And they do that by selling under names the consumers are used to seeing.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Source: Walmart International , The New York Times
The company also promises to give back to these communities around the world through the Walmart Foundation.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Source: Walmart Foundation
According to the company, all of this expansion allows it to employ around 2.2 million people around the world.
Eduardo Munoz/AP
Source: Walmart
See Also:
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