Walmart announced the launch of its own week-long online-exclusive sale in an effort to steal some thunder from Amazon Prime Day, which is being “celebrated” July 15, the eve of Amazon’s 20th anniversary.
Fernando Madeira, President and CEO of Walmart.com said in a blog post:
“We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale, but the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us,” Madeira said, in an obvious swipe at Prime’s $99 subscription price. “We’re standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.”
While Madeira did take a jab at Amazon Prime, Walmart launched its own subscription service in May, Shipping Pass, which gives consumers unlimited three-day shipping for $50 per year – yet another counter-punch to Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime Day was announced last week as an exclusive for Prime members globally.
The company has boldly proclaimed it will be bigger than Black Friday, which would be quite a feat out of the box.
[RELATED: Amazon Creates Prime Day: Its Own Global Selling Holiday]
USA Today reported that it is expected that Walmart will have more than 2,000 online exclusive discounts ranging from electronics to baby and home products and toys. Walmart is also reducing the threshold for free shipping from $50 to $35 for at least 30 days.
[RELATED: Why Prime Day Makes Perfect Sense for Amazon]
Daniela Forte is Content Producer for Multichannel Merchant.