Bentonville, Arkansas, is a tiny town with a permanent population of less than 50,000.

However, it was here that Wal-Mart, the global retail giant, was born, and Wal-Mart, whose headquarters has always been set up here, has never considered moving to a big city.

After getting off the plane, I took a car sent by the Wal-Mart headquarters, and after a long journey of several hours, I finally arrived at the Wal-Mart headquarters.

Here, Yu Wenfei met the current leader of Wal-Mart, that is, the eldest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Robson Walton!

Robson, who is in his forties, does not look like the head of a retail empire worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but a kind uncle next door.

Tall, lanky figure, pale blonde hair, and a pair of rimless glasses on the high bridge of the nose.

Wal-Mart's headquarters building is not very eye-catching, a very ordinary office building, with gray and white exterior walls, covering a large area, and the front of the building is like a park, with a large lawn.

Robson was also very face-saving, and personally came to the door of the building to wait for the arrival of Yu Wenfei and his party.

"Is this Mr. Fly, whom Mike is full of? I've heard of you for a long time. ”

Robson gave Yu Wenfei a hug warmly and said affectionately.

Foreigners express their friendliness in the same way.

Yu Wenfei responded with a smile: "Hello Mr. Robson, I am Yu Wenfei, I have long wanted to visit you at Walmart headquarters, I have a lot of questions I want to get your guidance, and I finally have a chance this time." ”

"Haha, we're a small town here, Wal-Mart is just a grocery seller, my level is not as high as the newspapers and magazines touted, don't be disappointed for a while. Robson laughed.

"You're welcome, Wal-Mart is America's most influential company, creating jobs for millions of people. Yu Wenfei hurriedly said.

Take Yu Wenfei and a few people to visit the headquarters of Wal-Mart, to be honest, there is nothing to visit, Wal-Mart is a retail company, and it is not like a technology company like IBM, you can go to see the R&D department and discuss cutting-edge technologies and the like.

The Walmart headquarters, mainly the finance department and the global procurement department, is busy with the sound of phone calls everywhere.

After returning to Robson's office and sitting down, Robinson sighed and said, "Mr. Fei has already started to lead several large enterprises at such a young age, and when I was your age, I was still playing football in college."

When I was younger, I helped out in my father's grocery store, moving boxes, sorting things, or cleaning, and my father paid me by the hour, and my pocket money while studying was earned by working for the family. ”

The education of the children of the Walton family is quite good, just like Robson said, since childhood, the brothers and sisters have to work in the store.

Although the family was already relatively wealthy at that time, none of them developed the vices of the "rich second generation".

After college, Robson did not study so-called business management, but studied accounting, and then studied for a doctorate in law.

After he graduated with a Ph.D., Wal-Mart had expanded its business to hundreds of stores across the country, and the business was very big.

It is said that his eldest son should return to work in the family business and prepare for taking over the business in the future.

But no, Robson went to work in an accounting firm, worked outside for nearly ten years, got married twice, and gave birth to three children before officially returning to the family.

Yu Wenfei thought to himself, when I was a child, I also wanted to help out in the store at home and earn some pocket money, but it's a pity that my father is not angry!

After chatting a few words and turning to the topic, Yu Wenfei said: "I came to visit Mr. Robson this time, in fact, I want to ask you for help. ”

Robson grinned and said kindly, "It's for the acquisition of IBM's personal computer business, I've heard about it." It is said that our business atmosphere in the United States is relaxed, but in fact it is not, especially for you foreign investors, there are still a lot of restrictions. However, this matter is not difficult to do, and the business that IBM sold to you does not have any high-tech technology, and it is not a big problem to pass the review.

Well, I'll go back and call a few friends and ask them to talk to you, and it should be done quickly. ”

There are some things that are very tricky for many people, and it is difficult to get to the sky.

But for others, it's a breeze.

After talking about this matter, the two chatted with great interest about the impact of the Internet on the retail industry, after all, Yu Wenfei has also done the supermarket industry, and now he is doing the Internet, so he has a better understanding of this aspect.

"Recently, I've been thinking about whether traditional retail models like Walmart, Carrefour and even Costco will be slowly phased out. IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES, E-COMMERCE COMPANIES LIKE AMAZON AND EBAY HAVE DEVELOPED VERY RAPIDLY IN RECENT YEARS, FROM SELLING ONLY BOOKS AND IMAGE PRODUCTS AT THE BEGINNING, TO REPLACING PERSONAL SECOND-HAND PRODUCTS, AND THEN SLOWLY EXPANDING TO DEPARTMENT STORES.

In a few years, it is estimated that even daily necessities, fresh vegetables and the like will be sold on the Internet, and I am wondering if Wal-Mart will also establish an online supermarket. Robson said with a frown.

In fact, around 2003, e-commerce websites were completely no threat to giants such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. In those years, it was the time for Wal-Mart to "conquer the city" around the world, and it was at the peak of the company's development.

But Robson is at the helm of the company, and he has to be able to see what the next five or even ten years will look like, and he will be thinking about what will happen in a few years.

Therefore, in recent times, he likes to talk to the elites of the Internet industry about e-commerce in order to get more information and inspiration from others.

Yu Wenfei thought about it slightly, Robson still helped himself, although this favor was owed by the acquisition of Knorr Supermarket, but this time he readily agreed, and he would have to deal with him in the future, so this time he could also reveal a little "real thing" to him.

Whether Robson listens or not, in fact, Robson will most likely not listen to himself, because Wal-Mart's business philosophy is quite conservative!

It is impossible to change the direction of old Sam's business because of his own words.

But these words, the difference between saying them and not saying them is quite big.

As time progresses, as e-commerce further invades the traditional retail market, and as Walmart slowly declines, Robson will think of what he said today.

At that point, Robson will realize how accurate his predictions were!

also laid the groundwork for the two to cooperate again in the future.

"Mr. Robson, maybe Wal-Mart is still doing very well, opening stores all over the world, and sales are increasing year after year.

However, with the popularization of the Internet, all business forms will be changed! Among them, the most affected industries are the retail industry!

It's not obvious yet, because many families don't have computers and don't have the conditions to access the Internet. Moreover, the basic conditions such as online payment and logistics express delivery are not sound enough, which greatly restricts the development of e-commerce.

But these can be improved, and in a few years, you may be surprised to find that consumers seem to be lazy, they will sit in front of their computers at home, buy electronics, clothes and shoes, daily necessities, and even vegetables and fruits, everything they need can be bought online!

At the same time, the store rent of physical stores is getting higher and higher, labor is becoming more and more expensive, store rent and labor will become the biggest cost of the traditional retail industry, and the operating cost of supermarkets will also be unprecedentedly high.

In contrast, online e-commerce does not have these costs, they do not need stores, and they do not need a large number of tally clerks and cashiers. And an online store can be aimed at consumers all over the country or even around the world!

This is also completely incomparable to traditional supermarkets!

If you'd like to hear from me, then start building your own e-commerce website now!

Immediately!

In fact, Yu Wenfei deliberately exaggerated a little, in fact, after the rise of e-commerce, Wal-Mart's life is indeed not so good.

Even in 2019, Walmart's market value was less than half that of Tencent, let alone Amazon.

In 2003, Robson had never heard of what Tencent did.

However, in terms of annual sales, Wal-Mart still has to beat Tencent, and Wal-Mart still ranks first among the world's top 500!

However, market capitalization is not only based on sales, but also on factors such as profit margins and development prospects.

..................

After listening to Yu Wenfei's words, Robinson was stunned for a while, he didn't expect that Yu Wenfei would say it so absolutely!

This means that Walmart is not optimistic about the current situation at all.

But......

Walmart is obviously at the peak of its history, expanding globally, and its annual sales have reached new highs.

In the ranking of the world's top 500, it has won the championship for several consecutive years, and the company's market value is about to exceed one trillion dollars!

Will online e-commerce really develop to that extent as Yu Wenfei said?

Although Amazon has also grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, and its market value has been rising day by day, Robson still looks down on Amazon in his heart.

Because Walmart has hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue every year!

What about Amazon?

The annual turnover does not exceed 5 billion US dollars!

And it has been established for ten years, and it has never been profitable, and it has lost money every year!

And Amazon is already the benchmark of the e-commerce industry, the one with the best performance and the highest market capitalization......

Such a so-called Internet e-commerce is also worthy of being compared with its own Wal-Mart?

Therefore, he was skeptical of Yu Wenfei's "prophecy".

"Is the Internet really growing that fast......? I always think that when people buy goods, if they can see the real thing with their own eyes, touch it for themselves, or try it out, the satisfaction and happiness that it brings are real. And Internet e-commerce can't bring people such a consumer experience. Robson spoke a little fast.