Price-matching fans, your days may be numbered if you ad-match at Walmart.
Walmart has announced that as part of an overall price-lowering strategy, they will eliminate ad matching at 500 store locations. From Coupons In The News:
If Walmart already has the lowest prices, there’s no need to match anyone else’s prices. That’s the thinking behind the retailer’s decision to do away with its Ad Match program in hundreds of stores.
Beginning next month, about 500 stores will no longer follow Walmart’s longstanding policy of matching the prices of products that appear in local competitor’s ads. Instead, those stores are promising lower prices on many of the items that are most commonly ad matched, like groceries and household products. That, theoretically, will eliminate the need to ad match at all.
Walmart would not say exactly which stores are implementing the policy change. But signs are already going up in many of the affected locations, informing shoppers that “as of June 9, 2016, our ad match policy will be discontinued at this store. Instead we’re lowering our prices on thousands of items.”
While the initial cessation of price-matching affects just 500 stores, I would guess that if Walmart finds this strategy successful, we can expect to see it eventially roll out to all locations.
Read the entire article at Coupons In The News.
paula says
I guess there is no reason to shop at walmart anymore. Price matching was the best. All of my shopping trips will be at Target.
They still price match.
Coupon Maven says
Check and see if your Walmart is affected — while 500 stores is a lot, Walmart has over 4,000 stores in the USA, so there is a good chance tat your local store may not be affected just yet.
KF says
Does this mean that they will stop their savings catcher program? If so, I am sure it’s because I have earned about $75 in 6 months. :)
Coupon Maven says
They have not announced any plans to stop Savings Catcher, but if their strategy is to continue lowering prices to the point that they are “the lowest” (by their determination) I wouldn’t be surprised if that goes at some point as well. If they are trying to say their prices are always going to be the lowest, Savings Catcher’s own existence proves that they -don’t- always have the lowest price…
J.R. says
Won’t affect me since I don’t shop at wal-mart. But if I did, I’d just go to the store with the lower price instead.
SW says
Is there a list available?
Coupon Maven says
Not yet – I’ve seen several news stories where large media organizations have requested the list – Walmart is not providing it.
pennypincher1 says
I clicked the link to get notifications of follow ups to this thread. Clicked the link in the email I received and just got an error message “Sorry, but the provided signature isn’t valid.”
pennypincher1 says
I called Walmart and they told me that they are not discontinuing price matching!
Coupon Maven says
I doubt your store may know what corporate is doing. This was announced on a call from corporate to shareholders, and unless your store is one of the initial 500, they may be completely unaware. The price-match discontinuation has been reported nationally in a variety of news outlets all week, including NASDAQ:
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/walmart-to-discontinue-ad-match-policy-in-500-stores-cm625893
https://investorplace.com/2016/05/walmart-ad-match-wmt-stock
https://consumerist.com/2016/05/25/walmart-ending-price-matching-of-local-competitors-ads-at-500-stores-wont-say-which-500/
https://www.wral.com/walmart-ending-in-store-price-matching/15724475/
pennypincher1 says
Jill, I didn’t cal a store. I called their national customer service number. Guess they don’t have a clue?
Coupon Maven says
WOW. Okay, well, there went my theory :)
I wonder if their customer service number is outsourced (like when you call the Chicago Tribune, you’re calling the Philippines) — or if they truly are clueless?
Brad lee says
Walmart doesn’t have the lowest prices. Kroger, Meijer and others (IGA) routinely have lower prices that Walmart has to match. Savings Catcher is a joke. It does not take into account generics brands that you can currently price match on and often misses a number of matches on name brand merchandise.
When this is implemented I will stop shopping at Walmart for all items that are better priced at the other stores and I will take my annual $10K of spend somewhere else. Walmart does not have the lowest prices and to think that I will continue to put up with the long lines and surly cashiers for higher prices.