How Did Sam Walton Beat Bigger Retailers?

David Senra, reading Charlie Munger's account, says Sam Walton beat bigger retailers by first knocking out small-town merchants with a more efficient system, and only then taking on the big chains.

Munger compared him to a prizefighter who wanted a record good enough for the finals, so he went out and fought 42 palookas. The result was knockout after knockout, 42 times. Walton might not have been able to tackle some titans head on at the time. With the better system he broke other small-town merchants, time after time. Then, as he got bigger, he started destroying the big boys.

The strategy was very shrewd. Scale and fanaticism combined to be very powerful.