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Not Made in America, Wal-Mart Looks Overseas For Online Vendors (reuters.com)
Walmart.com, trailing Amazon.com in the number of goods for sale on its website, is recruiting vendors in China and other countries to boost its online offerings in a pivot away from Wal-Mart's Made-in-America campaign. From a report: While there is a financial incentive behind the move, Wal-Mart's decision comes out of necessity: not all the goods its customers want -- ranging from jeans to bicycles to beauty products -- are manufactured within the United States. That reality pits Wal-Mart against President Donald Trump's "Made in America" push. It also risks alienating some of Wal-Mart's existing U.S. vendors since it runs counter to the American-made pledge the retailer made in 2013 in a bid to win customers, and satisfy unions and other critics who said its drive for low cost goods was undermining American jobs. According to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Wal-Mart Stores in February began inviting sellers from China, the United Kingdom and Canada to list on the marketplace section of Walmart.com, where it earns a share of revenue from goods sold and delivered to customers by third-party vendors.
When looking for cheap stuff from overseas, I just go to ebay. Not always the safest move, but a very good selection. Not sure what Walmart would add.
The Globalization Genie had been opened. Trying to get it closed will not be easy.
There are some tasks that just doesn't make sense for America to do anymore. Putting workers pay and working conditions aside. It is just trying to find people willing to do that particular work. Kids today are not looking for manufacturing jobs. The manufacturing jobs in America are for higher cost items, because these jobs require people with real skills to build.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
It's seems like an eternity ago.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
You must be joking.
Wal-mart hasn't been about "made in America" since the last century at least. THEY are the ones pushing companies to cut prices at any cost and outsource manufacturing to China to begin with.
They are the LAST place I would go looking for stuff made in the US. They try to drive those kinds of companies out of business.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Not Made in America, Wal-Mart Looks Overseas For Online Vendors
What, Wal-Mart's not made in America?
Comma should have been a colon. Someone needs to go to headline-writing school.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Why would I... I don't shop there... I don't use their physical store, why would I use their online store? ASDA are at the very bottom of the list.
Well, good for you, I guess. But why should any of us care what you do? It has no relevance to the story.
Maybe you hadn't realised, but Slashdot wasn't created solely for your consumption.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Really, is anyone surprised by this?
Nothing funnier than a butthurt WalMart apologist!
Why would we shop at Walmart?
The prices are good,the quality is Good Enough, it's less than 2 miles from the house, and there are 4 people in our household.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I don't like Wal-Mart. I remember a long time ago when Wal-Mart would advertise that everything they sold in the store was made in the USA. Then one day those advertisements stopped. They still had ads on TV but the claims of everything made in the USA wasn't part of it. Then it was how every day they dropped prices. Cheap, cheap, cheap, that's what they sold.
When I had to move to a new town and buy some things for my apartment I didn't know where I could shop. I did happen upon a Wal-Mart though. The place was dimly lit. It smelled like cheap plastic. And, the other shoppers looked like extras from a horror movie. The wastebasket I bought then stunk up the whole apartment. I told myself that I'd only go back to Wal-Mart again only if there was no other alternative.
I'll still go back once in a while. Usually because I'm taken there by someone I'm shopping with. The stores are brighter now. The stench is gone. The quality of the shoppers is hit and miss. I've learned what is "safe" and "not safe" to buy for the most part. Milk is usually safe, fruits not so much. I've learned to also look for brands I recognize. Schumacher? Never seen them before, probably crap. Deltran? I've heard of them, I'll get that instead.
If I need to buy something right away I've got lots of choices besides Wal-Mart. Would I go on-line to buy anything from them? Not likely. Sorry Wal-Mart, you lost me when you prioritized price over quality. I can't afford you because I cannot be bothered to buy my stuff twice. I'd rather go somewhere else and buy a quality product in the first place so I don't have to go looking for a replacement. I see you have not changed your ways.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Back when Walmart was becoming a national thing, Sam Walton would be quoted, "We have the highest quality products at the lowest prices!"
So, when one finally showed up near me, I went shopping. Same shit as K-Mart for maybe a cent or two lower.
He was just another bullshitter. He had this public personae of this folksy Arkansas hick who drove an old pickup truck (Hey customers! I'm just one of you!) but in reality he was s shrewd business guy that exploited his customers and the fact the most retailers stayed away from rural areas.
That's all he did: he put stores were others didn't and sold the same shit.
Walmart is not just in America. It has more than 6000 stores in America, but in China it has more than 400. It and the US govt. needs to be more shrewd in bargaining to get more stores in China and other places. No one-sided protectionism. Kill China's preferred nation status with the US if they get all fussy about letting more American goods and businesses in.
Walmart *could* compete with Amazon. They offer 2-day shipping, and have a seller marketplace... but that two day shipping is useless when the item isn't shipped for weeks.
Make America grate again!
Why would we shop at Walmart?
The prices are good,the quality is Good Enough, it's less than 2 miles from the house, and there are 4 people in our household.
yes indeed it's all about you and your convenience
you are gladly giving your money to people who literally want you to die
don't believe me? look at what they pay people. not enough to eat
To be honest, this is the Sam Vimes boot's phenomenon.
If you can afford to shop somewhere other than walmart, you'll be far better off in a short period of time. Their products are incredibly poor quality.
I used to work in a testing facility, and most (if not all) the major brand names make Walmart specific SKU's which are made of inferior components. Their Quality department is ruthless in trying to absolve liability for products that don't meet US codes and standards, and they could not care less about providing a quality product. They are not so evil to knowingly sell something dangerous, but that's hardly a glowing recommendation. They do the bare minimum.
Their business model is forcing manufacturers and even the testing groups into a "race to the bottom" where quality takes a backseat to product cost. It's "not their fault" since they "don't tell people to lower the quality" they just won't buy it unless it's under a pricepoint set well below the norm. And honestly, they are partially right. Better manufacturers just wouldn't sell there, but that's hard to justify for some companies when they represent such a huge market.
And this is all without getting into their hiring and workplace practices that more or less use government programs to subsidize their employees. They purposely reduce hours and pay low wages and then train people on the local government services (food stamps, WICK, etc). US tax dollars prop up Walmart in lieu of setting a living wage.
In my personal opinion, the only moral reasons for shopping at Walmart are A) if you are trapped in the system they help create (i.e. you are poor and need their low prices and don't live near a similar cheap alternative-- I will begrudge no one having to shop there to survive / afford a minimum quality of life), or B) it's an emergency. For example, we had a CO problem in an apartment and I needed a meter to double check the dying one. Walmart was the only place open at 3am selling CO monitors. I'm not going to shop there on principle, but I'm not going to die in my house on said principle. If I had an alternative I certainly would have taken it.
Again, it's much easier to take this "moral high ground" when you have the money to avoid it.
That said, if you can manage it, the quality of products you buy at a different store will probably last a lot longer and save you money in the long run. Though again, it's a moot point if you simply can't afford that option.
Don't worry, your outsourced IT job is safe, Raj.
"Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
Morals are apparently only for television and other such fantasies.
Since when is buying American more "moral" than buying elsewhere?
That said, if you can manage it, the quality of products you buy at a different store will probably last a lot longer and save you money in the long run.
I just tell people I'm too poor to shop at Walmart, I can't afford to buy my stuff twice.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
I am 47 years old, live in Scotland but have lived in many places across the uk. NEVER EVER have I have to pay to park at an ASDA. Not ever.
from Ayrshire, Glasgow, Aldershot, Catterick, Edinburgh,Perth,Aberdeen and many others. The only time i have been charged.... wasn't by Asda but when the places is in a shopping mall and you have to use that parking... which only happened once and that was only because ASDA's own parking was full .
Could argue that depending on the elsewhere the lax labor laws could run against your morals.
If I buy a T-Shirt made in a sweatshop using child labor does that make it less moral than if I bought it from a local manufacturer abiding by those labor laws I find moral and voted for?
Obviously, that falls apart if the elsewhere has the same or similar labor laws.
Because it is more moral to give a dollar to an unskilled, unmotivated, and under-educated American worker who didn't bother to pay attention in school or better themselves and lives in an apartment with his own bedroom, a flush toilet, dishwasher, internet access, and a smoke alarm and who owns an iPhone than to give a dollar to a hard working young adult who grew up on a farm in rural China without running water and whose hardworking family struggled to barely survive and who has taken the initiative to leave their family to move to where there are jobs?
Actually, I have no idea. Probably something to do with tribalism and a "We have ours, get your own" attitude or something along those lines.
Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading
If I buy a T-Shirt made in a sweatshop using child labor ...
China has strict child labor laws. The only evidence that child labor is used in export factories was a series of photos published in 2010 showing children chained to their work stations. They were soon exposed as a hoax.
Compared to OSHA, China has more lax workplace safety, but safety rules are more rigidly enforced in export factories, so buying "Made in China" is likely providing Chinese workers with safer and better jobs that they would otherwise have.
Wal-Mart makes up (or maybe "made up"?) something like 3% of US GDP and the family who runs it has multiple members in the "100 Richest people in the world" list put out annually by Fortune. Their relentless push to drive down prices and overall cheapness is well documented in business circles, and their business tactics have forced many American manufacturers to relocate their manufacturing facilities overseas, mostly to China, so that Walmart could shave the prices down some more. This is well documented in stories such as "The Man Who Said No To Walmart" in "Fast Company" and "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" on PBS's Frontline. There are many other such analyses that show how Walmart's influence led to American jobs being pushed out. Let's also not forget Walmart is also a leader in putting their employees on Medicaid, effectively stuffing the taxpayer to pay their employee health care (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/dec/06/alan-grayson/alan-grayson-says-more-walmart-employees-medicaid-/), so by having a Walmart in your state, your tax dollars are going to fund their healthcare while the corporate office is pushing for tax breaks to pay out more executive bonuses to quite literally one of the wealthiest families in the world.
What are you talking about? How have I been an apologist for Walmart?
AC's post is pointless and irrelevant regardless of what I think about Walmart/Asda - which is, not that it matters, basically nothing, since I have neither anywhere near me.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
What percentage of Trump voters (versus those who voted for Clinton) also shop at Walmart?
Been to the rust belt lately? (this is assuming you are American)
This is another ./ story that the "editors" think is relevant to tech nerds?
So that's why Ivanka has all her clothing line made in China! She's thinking of the children!
Been to the rust belt lately?
Yes. I was in the Midwest a few months ago. What is your point?
China also has a rust belt. Been to Harbin lately?
I'm not Chinese. I'd rather pay a bit more money for a car (or insert hypothetical manufactured item) and have it be made by some dude in MI or OH than elsewhere.
Hmm.. I guess we better should take your word for it, huh?
bickerdyke