Local dentists have a reputation to maintain, but the impact of reputational damage is generally limited. If they end up with 10 Yelp reviews complaining about fillings not lasting as long as they should or being overcharged, it may negatively impact the volume of patients they have or prices they can get away with charging.
Walmart, on the other hand, actively has a target on its back. And with $524bn in revenue last year and almost $33bn in EBITDA[1], it's one of the most deep pocketed targets around. Any minor issue has the potential to spin itself into a national news story, and malpractice lawyers would be giddy to nab a patient they can use to take a stab at Walmart's pursestrings. And just think of the stars in their eyes if they stumble upon enough complaints to get certified as a class action and be able to really dig into the clinical guidelines and operating procedures for deficiencies to exploit.
Not to say the service they offer is likely to be world class. But between their existing institutional competencies in operations[2] and the potential liability concerns, it is likely to garner a reputation for being consistently and predictably acceptable[3].
[2] Walmart's operational standards are notoriously demanding and exacting across their supply chain network. They could easily bring that to bear in running their clinics and enforcing compliance with clinical guidelines and SOPs from their medical providers.
[3] Walmart's reputation for mediocre product quality isn't an accident, it's a deliberate choice. And one that takes a considerable amount of effort to enforce and consistently maintain across the board for decades. They use their scale to get an incredibly detailed view of consumer behavior (because what people say rarely matches what people do). Then turn around and squeeze their suppliers to get a bill of material that minimizes return rates and maximizes consumer satisfaction within the constraints of price points determined by prior consumer behavior.
Walmart, on the other hand, actively has a target on its back. And with $524bn in revenue last year and almost $33bn in EBITDA[1], it's one of the most deep pocketed targets around. Any minor issue has the potential to spin itself into a national news story, and malpractice lawyers would be giddy to nab a patient they can use to take a stab at Walmart's pursestrings. And just think of the stars in their eyes if they stumble upon enough complaints to get certified as a class action and be able to really dig into the clinical guidelines and operating procedures for deficiencies to exploit.
Not to say the service they offer is likely to be world class. But between their existing institutional competencies in operations[2] and the potential liability concerns, it is likely to garner a reputation for being consistently and predictably acceptable[3].
[1] https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/revenu...
[2] Walmart's operational standards are notoriously demanding and exacting across their supply chain network. They could easily bring that to bear in running their clinics and enforcing compliance with clinical guidelines and SOPs from their medical providers.
[3] Walmart's reputation for mediocre product quality isn't an accident, it's a deliberate choice. And one that takes a considerable amount of effort to enforce and consistently maintain across the board for decades. They use their scale to get an incredibly detailed view of consumer behavior (because what people say rarely matches what people do). Then turn around and squeeze their suppliers to get a bill of material that minimizes return rates and maximizes consumer satisfaction within the constraints of price points determined by prior consumer behavior.