Wal-Mart has announced its own online sale on the same date. The retail plans to put thousands of items on sale and slash the amount needed to earn free shipping from $50 to $35.
In a blog post, Wal-Mart president and CEO Fernando Madeira declared that Wal-Mart is “standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.”
The reference to the premium is a jab at Amazon Prime’s Prime Day sale. Amazon’s sale, which will be for just one day, is only available to its Amazon Prime members. Amazon Prime members pay $99 a year for free two-day shipping and access to music and media streaming, this will keep their recruitment officers busy.
Wal-Mart’s sale by contrast will be open to everyone. Furthermore, the sale will be on rollback for 90 days and the shipping bonus will last for 30 days.
Amazon did not let Wal-Mart’s jab go unanswered. In a statement released a few hours after Madeira’s post, Amazon vice president Greg Greeley said that “we’ve heard some retailers are charging higher prices for items in their physical stores than they do for the same items online.”
Greeley said that fact is “a good reminder that you’re usually better off shopping online” and pointed out that nonmembers can gain access to the Amazon Prime sale by signing up for a free 30-day trial.
The two companies are not the only ones doing giant sales in the summer. Best Buy announced a “Black Friday at Best Buy” sale on July 24-25, declaring that there is “no need to wait for after Thanksgiving sales.”
These new sales show that retail chains are interested in seizing a bigger part of the online market. Wal-Mart made $12.2 billion in online sales in 2014, a far smaller amount compared to the $49 billion Amazon made. The company plans to invest $1.2 billion into expanding its online business. Wal-Mart is also interested in enacting an exclusive online program similar to Amazon Prime.
