As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart has been making strides to improve its e-commerce platform. Walmart e-commerce has never been a top performer—with Amazon and eBay ruling the online retail world.
As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart has been making strides to improve its e-commerce platform. Walmart e-commerce has never been a top performer—with Amazon and eBay ruling the online retail world. However, Walmart’s latest move is turning heads as the company recently announced it would show competitor prices on their own website.
The Next Step for Walmart E-Commerce
With Walmart e-commerce planning overhauls for its site, as well as a new grasp on the India e-commerce market, many experts believe that this latest move by Walmart is another step in the retailer’s efforts to strengthen their online presence. The new tool, called “Savings Catcher,” allows online shoppers to match the Walmart e-commerce price with several other competitors’ prices. Although Target and Best Buy both feature similar in-store services, Walmart is the first major retailer to do price research for the consumer online.
Pros and Cons of Savings Catcher
By offering to do price research for the customer online and giving them the lowest price, Walmart is holding true to its mantra of having the lowest guaranteed prices. Reactions in focus groups dedicated to evaluating Savings Catcher have been largely positive, and the move will likely help the performance of Walmart e-commerce in the future. However, many retailers offer two prices for a certain product—in-store and online. Savings Catcher appears to only honor in-store prices advertised online.
How will this Affect Global E-Commerce?
Odds are, not much. Walmart has struggled in the past to develop a winning e-commerce strategy, falling behind to major online retailers such as Amazon and eBay. Similar U.S. based retailers also seem to perform better than Walmart, including Target. Although Savings Catcher is a novel concept, it will take more to boost Walmart e-commerce to the top. For now, expect Amazon to remain atop the world of online retail, and keep an eye of Chinese websites—such as Alibaba and JD.com—as they explore new international markets.
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