Walmart Is Falling Apart Before Our Eyes

The problem for Wal-Mart goes far further than just cyclical swings in retail or a weak economy. Wal-Mart has long been able to lure customers with one-stop shopping and low prices, but consumer trends are now working against that core strategy. For cost conscious shoppers, lower prices can often be found online and more affluent consumers are choosing style and quality products over one-stop shopping. This can be seen clearly by the growth in online retailers like Amazon.com as well as specialty retailers like Williams-Sonoma , Lululemon, and Michael  Kors, among others... Each year, the company provides a return on investment calculation for investors, which measures the profit Wal-Mart makes from the money it invests in stores, inventory, and other infrastructure. You can see below that Wal-Mart's ROI is dropping rapidly since 2010, despite the broader economy recovering over that time.