On July 12, the first Wal-mart in Shijiazhuang, Lehuicheng Wal-mart, open as the fifth Wal-mart in Hebei. Before its opening, there was one store in Langfang, two stores in Handan and one store in Tangshan. Wal-mart has had a “Catfish Effect” on the market industry and may lead a shakeout with its brand, unified purchasing-dispatching system and goods with high quality and low price.

Wal-mart brought in new business ideas

The Lehuicheng Wal-Mart attracted hordes of people on the opening day with lots of discount. Lehuicheng Wal-Mart is located on the underground of Xinyuan Lehuicheng Mart belonging to the Zhongshan Road core business district. Since its opening in April, the mart has been warmly welcomed as a lively magnet for culture, entertainment and shopping with its leisurely park themed environment.

Wal-mart is the largest program in Xinyuan Lehuicheng Mart, with a business area of 10,000 square meters and offering nearly 20,000 kinds of goods. It is learned that Wal-mart has two out of three branch stores located in secondary and remote cites in recent years because of the competition and saturated market in the first-tier cities. Wal-mart is one of the largest grocery retailers in the world, third in 2012 and first in 2011 according to the Global Fortune 500 list. The introduction of Wal-mart in Shijiangzhuang brought in new business ideas. The company purchases and dispatches in a unified system, so one certain kind of goods is of one certain price in 270 marts in China,

Wal-mart also ensures food security with practicable treatments. For instance, food for sale in bulk zones is all sealed up. Workers retrieve food for customers, which is better than self-help methods for food safety. There are also some food tasting areas. Shopping baskets in the market have wheels, allowing shoppers to pull it, offering convenience for the shopping of small items. Wal-mart may lead a shakeout

The supermarket industry in the provincial capital is in complex condition. RenrenLe Market, Huapu Market, Tijin Homeworld Supermarket, YichuLianhua Supermarket and Shanghai Lianhua Supermarket failed in Shijiazhuang, while Yonghui Supermarket and Carrefour successfully entered. Yonghui Supermarket from Fujian entered Shijiazhuang in 2011 and opened two other branches in one year, while Carrefour entered in 2010 through the cooperative merger with Baolongcang Market and has seven branches. Both of them had an expansion plan in the provincial capital.

Now there are about 40 supermarket stores in Shijiazhuang and 19 of them belong to Beiguo Supermarket. The supermarket has also speeded up its expansion under the pressure of foreign companies.

Although there is only one Wal-mart in Shijiazhuang, the Catfish Effect it has will certainly cause a shakeout in the supermarket industry in the provincial city, said a member of the Merchants Association. “The market in Shijiazhuang needs some new ideas from foreign brands for better development.”

Customers said they choose just according to the quality, services and prices, regardless of whether it is a foreign or local supermarket. A spokesperson from Wal-mart said that the company will have more merchants from Hebei in its international business web and cooperate with Hebei in food security and electronic commerce in the future.