Vittorio Hernandez

Wal-Mart continues to be on an expansion mode while the rest of the American economy is in contraction mode.

The world's largest retailer unveiled on Wednesday new apps for the iPad and iPhone that permits consumers to browse the inventory of the local Wal-Mart outlet, scan products and create voice-activated shopping lists.

On the same day, Wal-Mart said it may expand its 140 in-store health clinics through partnerships with outside vendors to include chronic and preventative health care services ranging from HIB to diabetes and pregnancy testing.

Gibu Thomas, senior vice president of Wal-Mart for mobile and digital, said the consumer response to the iPad apps that debuted last week was phenomenal. It includes a bar code scanner and a QR code scanner, plus a new voice-activated shopping list that helps users find coupons and provides a running total of the bill.

Besides creating a more personal relationship with shoppers, the iPhone app is an aide for people whose memories need some assistance as to what items they need to buy since it remembers items frequently purchased by the smartphone owner.

More consumers are shifting to online shopping.

Data from IBM Coremetrics said that mobile sales made up almost 10 percent of online retail sales in October, up from 3.4 percent for the same month last year.

With the inclusion of more health services in Wal-Mart's 140 independently operated clinics across outlets throughout the U.S., a health strategist said that Wal-Mart is targeting the main middle class working people who have more limited access to primary care.

Wal-Mart issued toward the end of October a Request for Information from partners to help the company develop a low-cost primary health care platform. It asked potential vendors to explain their qualifications and plans for providing continued services for chronic ailments, including obesity, diabetes, HIV, arthritis and high cholesterol.

However, the aim of Wal-Mart to drive down dramatically the cost of health care has worried some consumers if quality would not be compromised.

By adding more health services in independent clinics at Wal-Mart outlets, the retail chain also hopes to increase foot traffic and sales as well.

 

 

NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS ...

WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS

 

Investing - Wal-Mart Releases New Apps for iPad, iPhone; Expands Services of In-Store Clinics