National Assoc. of Convenience Stores Magazine, August, 2004: “Because of its buying power, Wal*Mart can sell all of its products at retail for less than the price at which most of your wholesale distributors can buy the same product from the manufacturer … It’s scary to think small retailers might get better prices by purchasing directly from a Wal*Mart store than they can from buying from their own distributor/wholesaler.”
What this means is that Wal*Mart has not only changed consumer buying behavior, they have changed the way distribution channels work. Many manufacturers know that much of their Wal*Mart volume, especially what they sell through Sam’s Club, actually represents trade sales and not consumer sales. We’ve all heard about the impact Wal*Mart has on its retail competitors … how big will this impact on trade channels be?