Walmart invests $ 1 bi in reinvention of hypermarkets in Brazil

Walmart puts into practice the reinvention of the hypermarket format with the reopening of the units of the Walmart Tamboré, in greater São Paulo, which reopens tomorrow (29/10) to the public, besides the Big Novo Hamburgo (RS) and Big Santa Felicidade (PR), to be reinaugurados in the next few weeks. With the new concept, the two Big stores in the South also will adopt the Walmart brand. According to Flavio Cotini, President of Walmart Brazil, the project represents investments of approximately r $ 1 billion over the next three years. The goal is to turn all the 130 stores hypermarkets of the company during this period.
The hypermarket concept ("store where you can find everything in one place") was started about a year ago based on several surveys with consumers to understand their preferences and wishes in relation to the hypermarket format. "We made a real transformation of our supermarket, changing from the plant, type of assortment, offered services to Salon equipment sales and internal areas", details Cotini.
According to Executive, the goal of reinvention is to offer a much better shopping experience for customers. "We''re going to have a store more comfortable, lighter and with wider aisles, bigger quality in fruits and vegetables, a most innovative assortment on items of technology and low prices", quotes. "With a more productive and efficient store, we can offer lower prices in a shop that is accessible for all audiences", he adds.
Assortment In relation to the assortment of products, the changes are broad. The store is divided into three main areas: groceries and hygiene/cleaning, and non-perishable food/beauty. In the area of the grocery store, the focus is on productivity: the products will be in palletts and in boxes ready for display on shelves. "The palletts will fall straight to the bottom of the gondolas, facilitating the restoration and expanding productivity," says Cotini.
In the area of perishables, the focus is on the quality of fruits and vegetables to attract and retain customers. "Perishable is the largest traffic generator at the store. So, the idea is to have an atmosphere of experimentation. There will be our '' Theater '', the stage where we will present the show ".
"In the area of electronics, we have focus in the assortment that the customer wants. In other words, we''re going to bring a lot of innovation and technology solutions to facilitate the everyday life of the consumer, "he adds.
And to facilitate the access and movement of customers, the stores will be clearer, with wider aisles and shelves. That way, you can view all the sections of the store from the entry. In addition, customers will be able to access the new hyper for two entries-one for the area of perishable and another for non-foods. In each one, there will be space for specific items of seasonality, demonstrating the range of assortment. The project also includes improvements in parking lots and in the Gallery, with a mix of shops more suited to customers '' needs.

Migration
In relation to shops in the southern and northeastern regions, the reinvention comes associated to changes of Big brands and hyper Bompreço for Walmart. The migration will be gradual and will take place as the other shops through comprehensive reform for the new concept over the next three years. "We have a lot of respect for the brands that we acquired. We could not simply change the name on the facade without offering major improvements and more innovation to our client?, explains.
The company conducted a series of studies and research with consumers and identified that customers wanted improvements in the store who frequents. "We operate today five stores formats between hypermarkets, supermarkets, neighborhood stores, wholesale and shopping clubs. In the case of hypermarkets, we have three different flags in the country. We need to streamline our operation and decided to focus on supermarkets by representativeness in our business ", details Cotini. "This is another measure to make our company more simple, agile, with standardized processes and better results," he added.