Walmart Seeks Better Customer Service After Raises

The company gave its employees a collective bump in pay last month with the hope that happier workers will translate into happier customers.

April 20, 2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In late February, more than 1.2 million Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club associates received a pay increase under the second phase of the company’s two-year, $2.7 billion investment in workers. The pay raise was one of the largest single-day, private-sector pay increases ever.

Now, the company is hoping that the higher wages will translate into better customer service, Columbus Times-Dispatch reports. “We want to reinvent service,” said Doug Yost, a regional general manager in Ohio. “So we've started investing in three areas: people, e-commerce and improving the store experience.”

With discount and other big-box merchants being squeezed on pricing from Amazon.com and other e-retailers, customer service has become a key way to differentiate from the competition. “Amazon and Google are now opening stores,” he said. “Digital companies are realizing experience is something you can't get online. So customer experience is something we're really focused on. Even in big-box stores, there are some things you can focus on—hardware, sporting goods, garden center. You can stack mulch or you can give an idea how it looks.”

Thus Walmart’s focus on its employees. “Our ability to adapt has everything to do with people,” Yost said. “We know we have to have talented people. So we've gone to a different level now with our entry wages. That lowers our turnover, and our productivity increases.”

Meanwhile, Target will be raising the minimum wage for its workers to $10 an hour, The Wall Street Journal reports. “Our team is a huge part of what makes Target, Target,” the company said in a statement. “We pay market competitive rates and regularly benchmark the marketplace to ensure that our compensation and benefits packages will help us to both recruit and retain great talent.”

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