Walmart will now price match online retailers like Amazon

[Shawn Knight]

The holiday buying season is upon us which means companies will go above and beyond to get you to spend your money with them. Walmart is leading the early charge as the major discount department store chain on Thursday announced a price matching policy for the holidays.

Through the holidays, Walmart will match the online prices of rivals including Amazon and Target.

Roughly half of the company’s stores had already been doing online price matching in an unofficial capacity (at the discretion of store managers) but now it’s official at all of their roughly 5,000 retail locations.

Walmart is essentially playing catch-up as rivals including Best Buy and Target already have online price matching policies in place.

It’s a big move for the retailer as it attempts to combat an issue that has plagued retailers for years: showrooming, or the act of going to a retail store to look at something in person before buying it online at a cheaper price.

Walmart and others believe that if they can match the online prices of companies like Amazon, customers will opt for the instant gratification of being able to take a purchase home with them right then versus having to wait a couple of days for it to arrive in the mail.

Major retailers will no doubt continue to battle it out during the holidays which is just fine because the real winner in all of this is the consumer.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/58816-walmart-now-price-match-online-retailers-like-amazon.html

 

[Renrew]

Too little too late, Wally world.

You cannibalized your work force where maybe 3 out of 20 checkouts are open and it sometimes takes 20 minutes . You instituted self checkout which, would be great, if there was a discount associated with it. I however, refuse to participate and will walk out of a store that has long checkout lines and tries to push me over to do a job which should be handled by an employee.

Your prices on quite a few Items are non competitive , especially in the food sections and the pot heads and other assorted dregs hanging out, make me look for other venues.

 

[davislane1]

Too little too late, Wally world.

You cannibalized your work force where maybe 3 out of 20 checkouts are open and it sometimes takes 20 minutes . You instituted self checkout which, would be great, if there was a discount associated with it. I however, refuse to participate and will walk out of a store that has long checkout lines and tries to push me over to do a job which should be handled by an employee.

Too good to bag your own groceries, eh?

I whole-heartedly agree about the lines for traditional checkout counters, though. This is one of the many reasons I avoid Walmart at all costs. The exception are stores located in affluent areas (a rarity), as they tend to be well staffed and efficient.

If they are willing to price match an online retailer like Glyde.com, I may consider removing them from my blacklist. Though, I suspect such matching would soon come attached with a bevy of qualifications.

 

[Uncle Al]

I would like to believe this is just a move to be more competitive but all too often I have found Walmart to do just the opposite. The force the little guy out of business; when community governments turn them down they resort to threats and intimidation and have earned the title "the Nazi's of retail" more than a few times over. At this point I would not be at all surprised to hear they are installing signal jamming systems to prevent people from looking up the latest on line prices so they can make the claim without having to live up to the promise.......

The American public is slowly starting to wise up to Walmart and like K-Mart, they will begin the downward spiral only to be sold off and eventually dismantled and/or replaced by another big box store. Sadly, the American public still hasn't grasp the concept that the promise "cheaper is better" will always cost them in the long run.

 

[Camikazi]

Too little too late, Wally world.

You cannibalized your work force where maybe 3 out of 20 checkouts are open and it sometimes takes 20 minutes . You instituted self checkout which, would be great, if there was a discount associated with it. I however, refuse to participate and will walk out of a store that has long checkout lines and tries to push me over to do a job which should be handled by an employee.

Your prices on quite a few Items are non competitive , especially in the food sections and the pot heads and other assorted dregs hanging out, make me look for other venues.

40 minutes last time I went there but it was beginning of the month but still god it sucks waiting in line.

 

[tonylukac]

ALtho we have gotten milk at walmart for the price in other store's ads, Getting the price match for this particular laptop that I am writing on involved a lot of raising my voice at best buy.] and management approval.

 

[EClyde]

Wal-Mart saves me money on many items. If it is quicker to check myself out I do. Wal-Mart also employs many people that wouldn't have jobs. Are they the best? No. Are they the worst ? No.

 

[Guest]

EClyde said:
Wal-Mart saves me money on many items. If it is quicker to check myself out I do. Wal-Mart also employs many people that wouldn't have jobs. Are they the best? No. Are they the worst ? No.

I don't mind self-checking, but the self-check isles have to be operational in order for customers to use them. The ones at the store closest to me are just as likely to be out of service as not.

Wal-Mart isn't the worst, that's true. However, their customer service just might be. There's no excuse for have three checkers with each line 8 people deep.

 

[Guest]

Right... so WM, the store who makes sure most electronics and high-end items have unique model numbers for them only, will price match online who has standard/common model numbers. Oh... Amazon has "WKRP" on sale for $49? Sorry, we don't carry that (or any other current DVD/BR that's not a motion picture). Oh, you want the Sony BL4395xlpqr HDTV on sale at xxxx? We carry the BL4395xlpqs, sorry that's a different model.

Yeah... self checkout should offer a discount of some type. If not, all you're doing is putting someone out of work to get out of the store faster. That's why there are only 3 checkers stacked 8 deep to check out to encourage you to move you to those abominations. I've said so to CSM types at SAMs club when they try to move me from a person to self checkout.

Also... will they have some type of device at *all* checkouts to look up and verify the price? If they treat it like they do the grocery ads (very few bother to look up the item/price to see if you are correct) I'll just spout off a lower price for the checker to automatically accept and go on my way. How about the new app that checks for lower prices? Will that now scour the internet for a better price?

I don't see this making a difference at all in my shopping habits.

 

[Guest]

Walmart should have died off by now. Horrible, horrible customer service throughout, long lines, and the majority of the locations I have ever been to have been in very poor shape inside and out. I would gladly pay more for an item to shop at say a target, just to not have to deal with all the BS of Walmart. It seems the only reason to shop there is if you are considering taking the item back for a refund. They would take back used toilet paper.

 

[Kevin82485]

Haven't shopped at a Walmart in about 1 1/2 years. So glad to not deal with ******* customers, overcrowded aisles, and slow checkout times.