The Walmart CEO is meeting with the CEOs of Target and Kmart to discuss how to best handle the retailer’s customer service challenges.
Walmart has a massive customer service backlog and has been plagued by an inability to respond to customers who call in with a technical issue or to receive a service call, as well as an inability or unwillingness to respond when they do.
The CEO met with Target’s CEO, Jeffrey Simon, and KMart’s CEO and president of customer service, David Bickford, on Thursday at the company’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Simon, who is in charge of Target’s customer services, said that the meeting was focused on how to make sure that the company had a one-stop-shop solution for all customer service needs.
Simon said that while the meeting focused on the future, it was also about working with Kmart and Target to ensure that the business is a one stop shop for all the customer service questions and concerns they have, he told CNBC in a phone interview.
The company has been trying to address these issues by putting in place a new system that allows for one-on-one customer service for any issue, Simon said.
But the company has also been working to build trust in customers through customer service training and improving its technology to improve communication between its representatives and their customers, he said.
Simon also said that it was important for Walmart to have an “inclusive” approach to customer service and said that he and his team are looking at a variety of ways that it can be more inclusive.
Walton is working to make its customer service process as one-touch friendly as possible, Simon explained.
In addition to meeting with Target and Walmart representatives, the CEO is in the process of meeting with executives from Kmart, Target, and other major retailers.
Simon was asked about the Walmart-Kmart agreement to create a one time payment system that would allow Walmart to buy back stock that has been sold.
Simon said that this agreement is important to the company as a retailer because it allows Walmart to sell back stock without having to take a full, one-time purchase of stock from its customers.
WalMart already has a one cashback plan that allows customers to pay for up to $2.99 worth of merchandise in cash per transaction, and it plans to add more cashback options for its store employees.
Simon noted that there are also plans to increase the store’s weekly cashback to $1.99 and to add additional cashback programs for its associates.
He also said the company is working on plans to give associates a one percent discount on any merchandise purchases that they make at their store.
Simon also said there are plans to offer a cashback bonus for new associates that have been at the store for two months.
Simon told CNBC that Walmart has made progress in meeting customer service expectations with the recent acquisitions of online and mobile stores.
He noted that he has met with Walmart executives in Las Vegas to discuss the company buying Outbrain, an online retail company.
Simon reiterated that Walmart is working hard to improve customer service in order to be one of the best in the world, and he also said he has heard from customers who are very upset with the company, and they are willing to work with him to make the company better.
Simon has been the CEO of Walmart since 2015 and has made several business deals since then.
He has said that Walmart will spend $3 billion to expand its online business in 2018, and that it will spend an additional $1 billion on the new Target acquisition.
He said that his goal is to make $4 billion in sales and $1 trillion in revenue in the next five years.