10 Secrets Walmart Doesn't Want You To Know (Part 2) - YouTube

When it comes to giant retailers, Walmart is a cut above the rest. It is the largest

private employer in the US. And its annual revenue is in the hundreds of billions. That’s

the budget of a small European country. But not everything is rosy for the large corporation.

No company wants anything out there that would tarnish its image. So let’s uncover 10 Secrets

Walmart Doesn't Want You To Know (Part 2).

Owned by a Wealthy Family

The first fact about Walmart relates to the owners. Understandably this is one nugget

the wealthy family wouldn’t like to get around. But it’s not exactly a secret that

the Waltons own the large retailer which makes them the richest family in the world. Even

oil companies can’t compete with the riches of these guys. So what does that tell us besides

the fact that the first part of the retailer’s name comes from the family name? It actually

tells us a lot. Especially if we add another fact about the low wages and harsh working

conditions of the employees. We’ve already covered that point in Part 1 of this series.

When you think of the richest family in the world adding billions to their wealth every

year while the employees are only getting poorer, you can understand why the Waltons

prefer to stay out of the limelight. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with

being rich. The only thing that is wrong here is that if you as the owner keep getting richer

by exploiting your workers and not sharing your profits with them. Walmart would rather

pay the shareholders than raise the wages of the employees to $15 an hour. We’ve all

heard about corporate greed, but this one takes the cake.

Day-Old Bread is just as Yummy

That was a dark start. So let’s turn our attention to something that would benefit

you if you shop at Walmart. It’s about bread. We all love the smell of fresh bread. But

living in a city makes the chance of seeing fresh bread coming out of the oven as rare

as spotting a unicorn strolling down Times Square. And since most of us get our bread

from the supermarket, the expiry date is the way to tell if it’s actually fresh or not.

If you buy your bread from Walmart, take a walk down the bakery aisle. There you’ll

find day-old bread and other bakery products. For one thing, they’re cheaper than the

fresh ones. But other than the price, there’s not much difference between them and the ones

that were baked on the same day. They both taste the same, smell the same, and look the

same. So why not save a few bucks on your bakery items every week? You can get a loaf

of bread for as low as one dollar. Of course, Walmart offers these huge discounts because

the company would rather sell them at any price rather than throw them away. So it’s

a win-win for everyone.

Cheap Labor

We’ve talked before about big corporations running overseas sweatshops and sometimes

utilizing child labor to cut down on costs and increase their profit. A quick Google

search will yield plenty of scandals of this type. But what’s new here is that you don’t

need to go overseas to find cheap labor. Why go through the trouble when you have private

prison systems that offer an endless supply of convicts all year round? And it’s all

legal. Now, these convicts who are forced to work for as low as $2 an hour don’t work

directly for Walmart. There’s no chance of that. Just think of the public outcry if

you discovered that the guy who stocked the shelves at the fresh produce section was a

convict serving a life sentence. It wouldn’t look good. So instead these modern-day slaves

work in farms harvesting veggies and fruits. What’s more, it turns out that this systematic

exploitation of prisoners isn’t unique to the US either. In China, this unjust practice

is widespread and involves forcing prisoners to work 14 hours a day in harsh and inhumane

conditions. And all so that we can get our groceries at a low price while the shareholders

in Walmart get higher returns on their investment. Welcome to the real world.

The Sweet Dollar Deals

We mentioned that if you know where to look you can find a loaf of bread selling for one

dollar at Walmart. Luckily there’s no cheap labor involved here and the low prices are

part of a marketing campaign to attract customers. Furthermore, a loaf of bread is not the only

thing you can get for a buck at the giant retailer. Much like a dollar store, Walmart

offers its customers the occasional dollar deal to keep them coming back. The trick is

to know when such deals are on and which aisles have the coveted cheap merchandise. Sometimes

you can get shampoos, deodorants, and other personal grooming products at a dollar apiece.

So it’s always a good idea to check there more often. You’ll also find gift cards

and greeting cards for this low price all year round. These gifts are reserved for the

people you don’t care very much about but still have to send them a gift anyway. Some

websites like I Heart the Mart keep a page dedicated to these dollar deals at Walmart.

So it’s worth checking there before you head over to your nearest Walmart for your

regular shopping.

Walmart and the Cops

We all try to love and respect the police. From a distance, that is. Nobody likes to

have a cop tailing them. On the road, a police car is always better ahead of you than behind

you. This is not a reflection of a guilty conscience. It’s just that when a cop approaches,

it’s often followed by a knot in your stomach and the assumption you must have done something

wrong - or that you’re about to blamed for something you didn’t do. Walmart, on the

other hand, has a deep love for cops. See, Walmart employees like to call the cops a

lot. More so than other businesses that deal with the public. Someone lifts a $3 pack of

tissues? Call the cops. A hungry guy makes it out the door with a day-old loaf of bread?

Bring the wrath of the police force on them. It’s ridiculous. Where’s the Walmart security,

I hear you ask? Well, that’s the point. Walmart would rather the local cops handle

incidents of petty theft than the company pay for their own security system. Why hire

mall cops when you have the men and women in blue a phone call away? And if you’re

thinking that this would only stretch the police force and keep them from dealing with

a serious crime, you wouldn’t be wrong. But that trivial point doesn’t seem to bother

the management at Walmart, as long as it keeps costs down.

Free Shipping Obviously

This is one nifty trick that many people may not know about and will save you a lot of

money and time while you’re shopping. If you like to shop online, you’ll be pleased

to know that Walmart delivers your purchases to your home free of charge. The minimum order

has to be $35, however. Sweet. But what if your order is less than that? Easy. You can

choose the ship-to-store option. It means your order will be ready for you to pick up

at any store of your choosing. Here’s how you can use that option to your advantage.

Say your day is packed with errands and you don’t have time to go to Walmart and spend

hours walking down aisles, picking stuff, and having to wait in lines at the cashier.

Just make your shopping trip online and have them ship it to the store. Now all you need

to do drop by the store later that day or the next day and pick up your order. It doesn’t

get easier than that. You save time and also money since online prices are usually cheaper

than the ones in the physical store.

Win the Price Wars

I think we can all agree that one of the best features of capitalism is the fact that it

doesn’t tolerate one person or company to have a monopoly over the market - usually.

At least there are rules and regulations in place to prevent such manipulative practices.

And no matter what you think of Walmart or its closest rival, Amazon, you must appreciate

their rivalry. As consumers, we like to see the price wars rage on as each retailer tries

to seduce us with huge discounts and amazing promotions. It’s a thrilling feeling to

snag a deal online or buy a TV set for next to nothing. So the question now is, how can

you best benefit from the price feud between the two giants? Easy enough: compare prices

online and make sure you get the best deal. There’s no point in being a loyal customer

to one retailer or the other when you can save real cash on your weekly shopping. Remember

that free shipping service we talked about previously? It wouldn’t be possible if Amazon

wasn’t trying to woo customers with free shipping as well. It’s a great time to be

alive, isn’t it?

Seek the Coupons

One of the best things about Walmart is that it allows you to keep the change on your coupon.

Say you have a $10 coupon and you made a purchase for $8.35, that leaves you with $1.65. Walmart

will let you keep that dollar, 65 cents and use it in future shopping. Now you can understand

why your Aunt Myrtle spends hours scouring papers and website looking for Walmart coupons.

So where can you get your hands on these coupons? We’ll save you the embarrassment of having

to ask Aunt Myrtle (she probably won’t tell you anyway, not after you insulted her pooch

and called her cat neurotic) and we’ll just refer you to some good websites. You can visit

I Heart the Mart or Passion for Savings to find coupons and special deals. It also helps

to follow Walmart on social media such as Twitter where they post special offers on

a regular basis. Chasing coupons might sound like a waste of time. But when you see the

savings you can make on your grocery shopping, you’ll probably change your mind and decide

to make coupon hunting a regular pastime of yours. And nobody has to know.

It’s all in the Price Tag

This is definitely a secret that Walmart wouldn’t want you to know about. It has to do with

the price tag code the company uses. When you see a new item on the shelf such as a

lamp or toaster, you might be tempted to buy it before it gets picked by other customers.

But that’s not usually a good idea. Time is on your side here when planning your shopping

strategy. Large retailers like Walmart don’t like products with a heavy butt. By that,

we mean items that stay on the shelves for months on end. A quick turn over is the goal

of every retailer. So when an item sits around for weeks without making a sale, the company

usually gives it a new price tag with a discount. So how do you know if this is the first price

tag or a final one? That’s where the price tag code comes in. If the price tag ends

with a 7, then it’s a new item and this is the original price. So a pen that sells

for $2.97 means it just got here and if you wait a little, the price will come down. The

discounted price usually ends with a 5. So a few weeks later you might find the same

pen selling for $2.35. When the product still won’t sell, Walmart will give it a few more

discounts. The final price usually ends with a 1. Keep that in mind the next time you want

to buy at the retailer.

New Parents get Free Stuff

As we mentioned before, not all big corporations are evil. And not all their marketing strategies

are aimed at snaring the customers and fleecing them. Certainly not this one, which is a good

practice by the giant retailer. New parents will get a free baby box. You’ll need to

fill out a form on the Walmart website. Just navigate to the baby box page to apply. Sure

enough, Walmart will send a baby box to your home free of charge. So what’s in the box?

Well, as expected, you’ll find lots of stuff related to babies. From pacifiers to diapers,

nursing pads, wipes, and feeding bottles. Most of these free samples will give you a

leg up in the new parenthood thing and help you try the products before you buy them.

Naturally, you'll be purchasing loads of these baby items so it's always a good idea to know

which brands are good for your baby.

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