Also, employees can contribute as much as allowed by law and start saving as soon as they join a company. That holds true even if workers, regardless of industry, were paid the same. Wal-Mart has no match. Matches are more likely to vary by year, usually tied to company profits. In these plans, employees can't count on the company contribution.
Employees are more likely to have their contributions limited.
That's true for retail as well. Employees have to wait longer to begin saving. Studies have shown that plans with immediate eligibility have higher participation rates. Employees are far less likely to also have traditional pensions. Kmart did the same in 1996.