The Arkansas-based retailer began to spark outrage on Chinese social media last week after Internet users commented that Walmart had stopped listing Xinjiang goods in China's Walmart supermarkets and Sam's Club. Many said they had cancelled their memberships at Sam's Club.
Users on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo said they could not find items normally from Xinjiang in the online malls of Walmart and Sam's Club, and Walmart was subsequently embroiled in the controversy. Sam's Club is a members-only wholesale and retail chain of Walmart.
Some users posted that online customer service told them that Xinjiang goods such as red dates and apples were out of stock. A U.S. Walmart spokesman declined to comment.
According to the report, the Wall Street Journal reporter did not find the Xinjiang product catalog in the Chinese e-commerce stores of Walmart and Sam's Club. However, the reporter found that Xinjiang dates were still on the shelves in a Wal-Mart supermarket in Beijing on the 25th.
The report pointed out that some Weibo users accused Walmart of "eating Chinese rice and smashing Chinese bowls", and others said that they wanted to return the membership card of Sam's Club, and showed screenshots of their chats with customer service. Others said they would boycott Walmart stores.
According to the report, Xinjiang mainly produces agricultural products such as melons, dates and grapes. In addition, Xinjiang is also the largest cotton producing region in China.
The U.S. retail giant is reportedly a key pillar of Walmart's international expansion strategy as it streamlines its operations to focus on e-commerce and fast-growing global markets. In terms of retail space, China is Walmart's second largest overseas market, after Mexico.
Walmart President Doug Macmillan told investors on an earnings call last month that China proved to be a bright spot in Walmart's international sales in the most recent quarter.
The report noted that since Walmart has attracted attention online due to the purchase of goods in Xinjiang, competitors, including Hema Fresh, have seized the market. Carrefour recently posted a post with the hashtag "Carrefour Xinjiang Good Things Festival" and also posted images showing Xinjiang products on its shelves.
On the 24th, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry made a statement on the signing of the so-called Xinjiang-related bill by the United States, pointing out that the case disregarded the truth of the facts, maliciously slandered the human rights situation in Xinjiang, seriously violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. The spokesman stressed that the US side's actions completely violate market rules and business ethics, and will only undermine the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain, disrupt the international trade order, damage the US own interests and national credibility, and simply lift a stone to drop on its own feet.
Related reports: Sam fake "out of stock", members really return the card!
Last week, the "Sam's Club" under the American brand Wal-Mart was exposed to the targeted removal of Xinjiang products, triggering strong indignation from everyone.
At present, in many places such as Xiamen, Fujian, there is a very obvious "Sam's member withdrawal tide".
A large number of former Sam's Shop members chose to withdraw from membership and no longer buy any products from Sam's Shop after seeing Sam's Shop's move against Xinjiang.
Secretly remove Xinjiang products
On December 22, many netizens posted on social platforms that Sam's Club, a high-end membership store owned by U.S. retailer Walmart, was "suspected of removing all Xinjiang products."
On the same day, many netizens said that "Sam secretly removed Xinjiang products"
Someone immediately said that they would not shop at Sam in the future, "Thunder Sam and Walmart".
More and more netizens paid attention to this incident, and on December 24, the keyword "#山姆 Xinjiang#" once rushed to the top of the Weibo hot search list.
On the 24th, many netizens found that after opening the "Sam's Club" APP and typing the word "Xinjiang" in the search bar, there were many keywords containing "Xinjiang" such as "Xinjiang cantaloupe", "Xinjiang Hotan red dates", "Xinjiang apricots", "Xinjiang raisins" and so on.
However, after clicking on the search for "Xinjiang", you got the result of "Sorry, no related products were found".
In this case, some netizens directly @ Sam's Club official account, asking Sam's Club to give a reasonable explanation. But so far, the official account of Sam's Club has not responded to the removal of Xinjiang products.
Many netizens said that they would not go to Sam's Club after that: "Don't renew your card, say goodbye in advance", "don't buy anyway", "don't send it when you go well".
On the 24th, some media called the official customer service of Sam's Club on this matter, and the relevant personnel said on the phone that the listing and unloading of goods need to be arranged according to the actual situation of inventory. The reporter asked whether there were other reasons, and the person did not reply directly.
"Sam's Member Withdrawal Tide"
At present, a large number of former Sam's Shop members have chosen to withdraw from membership and no longer buy any products from Sam's Shop after seeing Sam's Shop's move against Xinjiang.
In many places such as Xiamen, Fujian Province, there has been a very obvious "sam's member withdrawal tide". There is a long queue in front of the card refund counter in some stores, and the checkout counter is empty. There are also many members who choose to return their cards online.
The response of Sam's official website customer service is still that the inventory is gone, and said, "In the later stage, you can still buy (Xinjiang products), and if you have goods, they will be on the shelves."
All the Xinjiang products suddenly out of stock together? Many netizens expressed disbelief.
Moreover, some netizens searched for other products and found that if they are out of stock, they can display product pictures and names, not the same as Xinjiang products, and directly search for any product information.
Source: Overseas Network