What 1 Analyst Took Away From Wal-Mart's Investor Day

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) closed down 1.8 percent on Wednesday following the company’s investor day. The retailer's U.S. business is undergoing a major restructuring, which management hopes will help deliver stronger same-store sales and profits this year.

Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Greg Foran has been personally visiting stores in the U.S. unannounced, stocking shelves, talking to customers.

At the company's Investor Day, Foran highlighted eight problems that the company needs to face and fix. Belus Capital's Brian Sozzi summarized these points in an article on The Street.

• 1) Wal-Mart U.S. needs to improve the shopping experience by, for example, restocking shelves overnight.
• 2) Foran thinks the company has too much inventory in its backrooms and this is a problem that needs to be corrected. The company has started to quickly reduce prices on food products that are nearing expiration dates to improve sales and margins.
• 3) Stores could/should have better layouts and designs.
• 4) Digital operations and brick and mortar stores need better/further integration.
• 5) Foran said Wal-Mart could open more gas stations, healthcare clinics, and financial service outfits in its stores. This way, the store space would be used.
• 6) “Reduce prices even further. Wal-Mart somewhat confirmed a report in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that it's putting pressure on suppliers to reduce prices so its retail prices can be more competitive,” Sozzi wrote. “In competitive markets, our price gap is too small,” Foran commented.
• 7) More items that customers want should be offered. The diverse teams need to ramp up efforts to understand clients’ needs and demands.
• 8) Headquarters should work more closely with stores. “Foran mentioned it has started to restructure processes at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Arkansas to give store employees more autonomy,” Sozzi stated.