Week_2_Fin

Wal-Mart focuses on delivering everyday low prices; it is still one of the largest retailers and grocery chains in the world according to its sales totals. “Wal-Mart U.S. achieved positive comparable store sales for fiscal 2012, having posted an increase in customer traffic for the fourth quarter. Net sales surpass $264 billion, a 2.2 percent increase from the prior year (Walmartstores, 2012)”. Wal-Mart achieves this by offering what customers want such as low prices and a broader assortment of items. Wal-Mart is number one on the fortune 500 list of companies. If Wal-Mart continues to sell items at lower prices than competitors they will maintain their number one rating in fortune 500 companies. Wal-Mart lowers the costs by reducing expenses, increasing productivity, and leveraging technology to improve efficiency throughout their supply chain and their operations. Wal-Mart’s initiative affects the planning in cost and sales and has to review and adjust the classification of certain revenue and expense items, within the consolidated statements of the income and the financial reporting purposes. The reclassification impact net sales, gross margins, operating, selling, general and administrative expenses, the company is always faced with a strong sales competition, which include other discount, department stores, drugstores , and warehouses, and supermarkets that all comes from national regional and international chains (Walmartstores, 2012). Wal-Mart faces many influences and factors in general economic conditions, cost of goods, the consumer credit disposable income, unemployment, labor costs, inflation, and deflation. Wal-Mart’s priorities are to improve the growth, leverage, returns, and shareholders value, and to stay focuses on the sales growth. Reference Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (n.d.). 2012 Annual Report: A. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Retrieved August