Now Featured on Wal-Mart’s Website: Higher Prices Than Stores
This is from the US so it may not come to Canada. But it's an unusual move.
Now Featured on Wal-Mart’s Website: Higher Prices Than Stores
Now Featured on Wal-Mart’s Website: Higher Prices Than Stores
The full article is behind the WSJ's paywall. I'd post the whole thing if it weren't against RFD rules. Use Google to find out how to scale that wall for free.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to charge customers more to buy some products online than in stores, part of the company’s efforts to boost profits and drive store traffic as it competes with Amazon.com Inc.
The world’s biggest retailer has quietly raised prices for some food and household items sold on its U.S. website, including boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Colgate toothbrushes and bags of Purina dog food, according to people familiar with the matter and comparisons between online and in-store prices.
Some big-box retailers charge more for online purchases, including Costco Wholesale Corp., but the move is unusual for Wal-Mart, which has long honed an “everyday low price” message and has worked to keep online prices at least as low as shoppers find in its 4,700 U.S. stores.
Wal-Mart previously aimed to keep online and in-store prices equal for many of its most popular products, unless competition drove them lower. But the company is experimenting with a new system, which has at times resulted in higher web prices for goods that would otherwise be unprofitable to ship, the people familiar with the situation said.
In some cases, product listings on walmart.com show an “online” and “in the store” price. Often the online price matches Amazon...
For inexpensive items, “there’s no cheaper way to get these products to consumers than have them come in the store and pick it off the shelf themselves,” Mr. Lore said at last month’s investor conference. He said he hopes shoppers will come to stores for the best price and place larger orders online to offset the cost of shipment.
veni, vidi, Visa