Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Last week Wal-Mart announced that it was giving up on the German market, and sold its 85 stores in Germany to Metro Group. This comes on the heels of its exit from the South Korean market as well. In Germany, many mistakes were cultural -- employees offered to bag groceries for customers (Germans prefer to bag their own groceries) and clerks were instructed to smile at customers, who are used to brusque service. Many Germans were put off by this approach.

The July/August issue of 1to1 Magazine talks about the strategic challenges multinational companies face when the enter new markets. The bottom line is that there needs to be an overarching strategy that also takes into account each individual country's unique needs, values and cultures. It looks like Wal-Mart found this out the hard way.