A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MAJOR US RETAILERS BASED ON ENTERPRISE MARKETING EFFICIENCY

The purpose of this research was to analyze financial results of four major US retailers from June 2006 until August 2008 and compare their tactics to create shareholder’s value, using key performance and enterprise marketing ratios. This is a relevant study given the different business models and strategies used by these companies, as well as their strong rivalry in the retail industry. The study highlighted Walmart and Costco given their recent growth and competitiveness. The results showed that Walmart was superior in attracting investors willing to pay a premium for the stock. On the other hand, Costco created an average of $10.32 dollars of sales for every dollar spent in Sales, General and Administrative expenses, whereas Walmart produced only $5.44. In other words, Costco created twice as much sales volume for every dollar spent in these expenses. Further, the Maximum Earnings Market Share displayed that Costco could have made $3,660 million more in that period, whereas Walmart spent $26,300 million more than needed to increase earnings in the same period.