Lessons For Hotels From Walmart

December 15, 2016

Retail Giant Provides Blueprint for Consumer Recognition, Success

by Mr. Larry Mogelsky

brought to you by www.hotelinteractive.com

Years ago, and well before my hotelier days, I traveled to Bentonville, AR selling ergonomic furniture, mouse pads and the like. The Walmart offices were huge then and I can only imagine how much they have grown since. Today, Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue ($288 billion) and employees (2.2 million), rivaling the GDP of many nations, including some that are traditionally defined as first-world.

What's most interesting to me is that hoteliers, by and large, have never really looked to this retail titan to see what they can glean. Perhaps it's a stigma whereby Walmart is perceived as 'beneath us' or that a discount retailer is totally unrelated to our heads-in-beds raison d'être. In any event, here are a few initiatives that Walmart does exceptionally well that should be on our radar.

1. It advertises. Walmart did not grow on its own. It is among the world's heaviest TV ad buyers. Its recognition had been bought through countless GRPs (gross rating points) of continual media buying. Many hoteliers these days, I'm afraid, do not consider advertising - broadcast or digital - as a major component of their brand support program.

2. It has not diluted the brand. Just two names - Walmart and Sam's Club - seem to work for 11,500-plus outlets. It does not create 'lifestyle' property categories or other sub-brands on a marketing whim. A chain with 18-20 brands is going to have a challenge with any sort of clear recognition or differentiation.

3. A strong environmental commitment. Walmart has universally adapted LED lighting as just one of the green-conscious approaches it has taken. Apart from the lucrative financial ROIs, it is leading the way for other companies.

4. One, unswerving consumer strategy. "The lowest price is the law." Remember this statement? It is hammered in through its advertising and followed up in-store. By having a single-minded focus, both the company and the consumer are on the same wavelength. Most hotel plans that I've read have trouble distilling the strategy down to a half-dozen unique or semi-unique approaches.

5. The masters of data. Walmart knows its POS data in real-time. It manages inventory down to the store level and can refill stores to meet on-shelf requirements effectively. Do you know who exactly is staying with you tonight? Last night? Tomorrow night? How about 365 days from now?

6. It has greeters. Comedians like to make fun of the Walmart greeter program. But, they serve a valuable purpose in reassuring the customer and helping out at the store entry. It's part of the brand guarantee to service the consumer as best possible. Ever consider having a greeter standing out in the open in the hotel lobby instead of sequestered behind the physical barrier that is the front desk?

7. It tests and plans. New items just don't appear across all stores; they are tested in store panels to ensure their success. Shelves are planned with perfect store-to-store consistency. With hotels, there is much more variation across each chain, and while the parallel might be considered a bit of a stretch, standards must nevertheless be adhered to, or at least suitably adapted to meet regional quirks and demands.

These are just a few that I have come up with. Can you add any more relevant practices that have hospitality applicability?

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CLIA Annual Meeting

CLIA members are invited to participate in the Annual Meeting held on December 20th at 11:00 a.m. The meeting will be held via conference call. We will announce our 2017 Board of Directors and Officers, provide a legislative update, a programs and benefits update, and more.

If you would like to participate, please send an e-mail to bsinghallen@clia.org so that you can get the dial-in information and passcode for the conference call.

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E-Verify and Form I-9

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility.

Instant Verification of Employment Eligibility

E-Verify's most impressive features are its speed and accuracy. E-Verify is the only free, fast, online service of its kind that verifies employees' data against millions of government records and provides results within as little as three to five seconds.

Although E-Verify uses information from Form I-9, there are some important differences between Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements.

Form I-9	E-Verify
Is mandatory	Is voluntary for most businesses
Does not require a Social Security number	Requires a Social Security number
Does not require a photo on identity documents (List B)	Requires a photo on identity documents (Link B)
Must be used to reverify expired employment authorization	MAY NOT be used to reverify expired employment authorization

The employer enters the employee's information from Form I-9 into E-Verify and submits the information to create a case. E-Verify compares the information to records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including:

U.S. passport and visa information
Immigration and naturalization records
State -issued driver's licenses and identity document information
Social Security Administration records.

E-Verify sometimes displays a photo for the employer to compare to the photo on the employee's document to ensure the document photo has not been altered.

If the information matches, the case will receive an Employment Authorized result almost immediately.

If the information does not match, the case will receive a Tentative Nonconfirmation(TNC) result.

When to use E-Verify:

Don't use E-Verify before offering an applicant employment. It is illegal f to use E-Verify to investigate a potential employee's authorization prior to offering them a job (unless required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds).
Don't use E-Verify on existing employees. It is illegal for an employer to use E-Verify to investigate an existing employee's employment authorization status (unless required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds).
Do use E-Verify after offering employment to a candidate. An employer may use E-Verify to investigate the employment authorization status of an applicant who has been offered employment.
Employer must provide a job candidate with TNC notification. If an employer receives a Tentative Nonconfirmation after submitting their documents to E-Verify, the employer must (as soon as reasonable) give the employee any TNC or any other notification issued by the SSA or Department of Homeland Security related to the employee's case.
Civil penalties of up to $10,000 can be levied on an employee who violates the E-Verify law. "Each illegal use of the E-Verify system for an employee or applicant is considered a separate violation."