Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (ticker: WMT) is generally known for its poor customer service, and has even been ranked accordingly among retailers. But one analysis has revealed that race and socioeconomic factors play into customer service.
This is all according to an analysis of 35,000 Yelp reviews spanning 2,840 stores, conducted by Adam Reich, an assistant professor of sociology at Columbia University.
“The higher the percentage of black or Latino residents in a zip code, the worse Wal-Mart service becomes, regardless of whether this zip code is poor or wealthy,” Reich wrote in a blog post.
“People used words like ‘unorganized’, ‘nasty’ and ‘worst’ to describe stores in communities of color much more than they used those words to describe Wal-Marts in whiter communities,” Reich told 13 News Now via Skype.
As Business Insider notes, the study has its limitations — namely its Yelp review foundation, since it can’t account for other factors as well as biases. A spokesman from Wal-Mart told Business Insider the analysis was “flawed and without merit.”
“Our associates play a critical role in the company’s success and that’s why we’ve invested $2.7 billion on associate education, training and wages,” Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez told Business Insider in a statement. “We’re also proud to provide communities across the country, regardless of social or economic background, access to affordable goods and career opportunities to help them better provide for their families.”
All this comes as the company has faced scrutiny for understaffing and a Bloomberg article that pinned Wal-Mart’s crime uptick on corporate measures. The Tampa Bay Times separately discussed crime at Wal-Mart in an in-depth article.
WMT‘s stock is up 18.9 percent on the year. Its stock price was steady around $72.89 as of Tuesday afternoon.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Customer Service Worse for People in Black, Latino Zip Codes, Analysis Says (WMT) originally appeared on usnews.com
