Moving the comps needle with meat sales

Plenty of people shop Walmart’s stores for their groceries but go elsewhere to buy meat. Now the company is looking to convert a larger percentage of its more discriminating shoppers to purchasers of meat with a new quality-based initiative supported by an innovative shopper marketing strategy and a national ad campaign.



If Walmart could get more of its existing shoppers to put meat in their carts it would do wonders for the company’s average transaction size and could provide an incremental lift to same-store sales. Accordingly, Walmart this week introduced a new line of USDA Choice Premium Beef and is promoting the brand with an ad campaign featuring diners in restaurant being told the steak they just enjoyed came from Walmart. To drive further awareness and generate trial, the company has partnered with Kingsford Charcoal and Coca-Cola for the Walmart Choice Steak Challenge. The premise of the initiative involves a multi-city search for the chef with the best steak-grilling skills in the country. The Walmart Choice Steak Challenge presented by Kingsford Charcoal and Coca-Cola will determine who grills the best steak in such cities as Tampa, Miami, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville and Atlanta. All events will take place in Walmart parking lots and be judged by shoppers who determine finalists to participate in a finale event on May 22 in New York. The finale will be judged by champion pit master Chris Lilly and other food experts.



“Walmart now offers top quality USDA Choice steaks at a great price,” said Scott Neal, VP fresh meat and seafood for Walmart U.S. “We encourage customers to try the new USDA Choice steaks at Walmart’s everyday low prices, even if they haven’t considered Walmart for their steaks in the past. We believe in our new steak so much that we’re offering a full refund if a customer is not pleased.”