A personal experience

I tried to sell Walmart a few years back. The price they wanted to pay was below what I could accept (nothing wrong there), so we passed.

I know somebody who did sell them a product. The item performed well and they told thim they were ready to reorder. They gave him an order for five times what he sold them originally, but at 60% of the price. When he told them he could't sell at that price, they increased their offer to 70% and told him take it or leave. He had no choice but to leave it.

I remember reading in a trade journal about one other company that was very dependent on their Wal-mart orders. On Wal-Mart's purchase orders at that time, the small print on the back said that all orders were cancellable up until the date of shipment. Wal-Mart decided to cancel one of his orders the day before the ship date, because they were able to get the product cheaper. The company sued, claiming, IRIC, that it was an unfair contract. They won and Wal-Mart had to take the goods.

Again, my point is that a company with the market power of Wal-Mart takes on some of the characteristics of a sovereign entity such as a country.