A practical lesson in branding (the bad kind) at Walmart
- Blanca Ruiz
- Mar 23
- 3 min read
I recently went to the supermarket.
I wasn’t planning to buy anything specific.Then I saw a set of glass cups. I liked them. I grabbed them.
An impulse purchase.
Everything was fine… until checkout.
I paid, and the cashier handed them to me with no bag, no wrapping, no protection.
Then I asked her: Aren`t you going to provide some kind of wrapping as in the past?
Answer: No, we do not do that anymore.
And I paused.
Should I just leave them?
That moment revealed something important:
Even a small friction can break the sale.
This Isn’t About Plastic Bags
To be clear, I had my own reusable bag with me.I fully support reducing plastic use, and I recycle almost everything at home.
This isn’t about sustainability.
It’s about customer experience design with YOU and your brand.
What happens when you remove something from the experience?
What happens with fragile products?
What happens with unplanned purchases?
When companies eliminate something (like plastic bags), they also need to design what replaces that part of the experience.
Otherwise, the customer is left solving the problem and that affects buying decisions.
When Small Frictions Start to Add Up
After checkout, I walked to the parking lot.
The payment machine only accepted coins
The screen was partially covered
I couldn’t clearly see the amount
There was no validation for purchases (I had to pay the full amount for the parking)
At that point, it wasn’t just one issue.
It was a pattern of friction.
What This Says About Brand Experience
According to the company, Walmart aims to provide a convenient, accessible, and customer-friendly experience.
But when the real experience feels:
confusing
cold
poorly thought out
the message customers receive is very different:
👉 “You’re not that important.”
Branding Is Not What You Say
This is where branding becomes real.
Branding is not:
your logo
your advertising
your messaging
Branding is:
👉 what customers feel after interacting with your business
This is how you can increase sales, drive more customers and turn them into loyal fans of your business.
After that visit, I didn’t think about low prices.
I thought about:
friction
inconvenience
lack of care
And this is a real example of bad brand experience.
Why Customer Experience Impacts Sales
This is especially critical in retail.
Impulse purchases depend on:
ease
speed
emotional flow
When friction appears, even in small ways, it interrupts the buying decision.
👉 Friction reduces conversion and customers stop buying.
Brands Lose Relevance Slowly
Brands don’t lose customers because of one big mistake.
They lose them through:
👉 many small, repeated frictions
Each one seems minor.Together, they shape perception.
What This Means for Businesses
If you run a business, this is the takeaway:
If you remove something from your customer experience,you must redesign the experience around it.
Otherwise:
customers hesitate
trust decreases
sales drop
What I Actually Do
People often know me for designing logos and visual identities.
And yes, I do that. Check my website
But my work goes beyond design.
I help companies build their brand strategy,and then translate it into visual identity and communication systems that create a consistent experience.
I work across two dimensions:
strategy
visual identity
And when those align, brands become:
clearer
more distinctive
more trusted
Final Thought
A brand is not built in campaigns.
It’s built in everyday interactions.
And sometimes…
in the moment a customer almost walks away.
I don’t create brands.I create worlds people want to step into.
A unique combination of skills that help me be the best option if you really want to create a whole brand.
Helping businesses bring their ideas to life across cultures.
English and Spanish.
Book a call to discuss how this process can help you.
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