Wal-Mart cuts costs for suppliers
11/4/2003 13:12
The US-based retailing chain giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced
yesterday it would not charge membership fees on suppliers for its first China
store in Beijing, a move aimed to attract more competitive suppliers by reducing
their costs.
Wal-Mart will open its first mainland outlet in Beijing this
June. Its first Shanghai store is expected to open in early 2005 in Wujiaochang,
in the city's northeastern area.
Suppliers of the Beijing store will pay
a certain portion of their profits to Wal-Mart, as well as other costs as for
bar codes and advertising as with other supermarkets or hypermarkets in China,
according to today's homeway.com.
Wal-Mart's zero-membership-fee strategy
seems successful with China's suppliers, as more than 100 interested Chinese
companies contacted Wal-Mart with product samples about the Beijing store
yesterday following the announcement.
This could threaten the country's
existing retailing markets by attracting away competitive suppliers, market
analysts pointed out.
They said supermarkets and hypermarkets in China
charge a membership fee of around 80,000 yuan (US$9,674) on its suppliers for
putting their products on the shelves.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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