LongHaul Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I have been using Amazon for a very long time but recently have been buying more off Walmart.com and found Walmart.com to be cheaper ~70% of the time in the recent past. Walmart has significantly improved their website experience and selection in time. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me and has anyone been buying more off Walmart.com? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcliu Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Same here. The prices on Walmart also don't change as dramatically like on Amazon. If you use CamelCamelCamel, you can track prices on Amazon and see how much it fluctuates. Also, Walmart seem to have a more comprehensive selection of branded products and less 3rd party garbage. Amazon still has faster shipping, but even there, recent shipments of household goods have been sub-par (damaged/defective). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgis Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Haven't bought from Walmart for about half year. Buying tons of stuff from Amazon. I don't price-compare often, but when I did Walmart was not cheaper/worthwhile. I usually price compare for >$100 or so purchases. Edit: as I have posted before, there were/are brands that were not available on Amazon and then I bought them on Walmart. Most of them are now either available on Amazon or gone totally. My tastes are quite idiosyncratic and I've suffered a bunch of brands forever closing/disappearing/discontinuing. #firstworldproblems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castanza Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Haven't bought from Walmart for about half year. Buying tons of stuff from Amazon. I don't price-compare often, but when I did Walmart was not cheaper/worthwhile. I have never heard a millennial say. "Let me check Walmart.com." But I don't have enough fingers or toes to count the number of ties I hear "Let me check Amazon." in a weeks time. "Amazons Brand" so to speak is(has) becoming the "just Google it" of search. That is a very powerful thing. I'm by no means saying Walmart wont be competitive. I'm just saying they need to hurry up if they want to stay in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I've heard millennial say that and now you have too. Because I've done that often and I'm a millennial though probably one of the first ones. Personally for the stuff I buy I never found Amazon to be cheap. Books yes, but otherwise no. I mainly use Amazon for peculiar stuff an for holiday shopping when I don't want to be a sardine at a mall for a day straight. Otherwise I use it and knowingly pay for convenience. I once had a trip to go on, I needed some stuff, ordered it around midnight, paid extra for one day shipping and at 7 am the next day it was already on my porch. I must say that was impressive. But i don't really buy soap and stuff like that from Amazon. The only time I've bought regular stuff was when I had to increase the value of the basket to qualify for free shipping. So if it comes down to logistics being the differentiator for Amazaon, i can't see why WalMart of all companies won't figure logistics out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castanza Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I've heard millennial say that and now you have too. Because I've done that often and I'm a millennial though probably one of the first ones. Personally for the stuff I buy I never found Amazon to be cheap. Books yes, but otherwise no. I mainly use Amazon for peculiar stuff an for holiday shopping when I don't want to be a sardine at a mall for a day straight. Otherwise I use it and knowingly pay for convenience. I once had a trip to go on, I needed some stuff, ordered it around midnight, paid extra for one day shipping and at 7 am the next day it was already on my porch. I must say that was impressive. But i don't really buy soap and stuff like that from Amazon. The only time I've bought regular stuff was when I had to increase the value of the basket to qualify for free shipping. So if it comes down to logistics being the differentiator for Amazaon, i can't see why WalMart of all companies won't figure logistics out. I've commented on Walmart's logistic network in other threads and it really is impressive at scale. They should really be figuring out ways to leverage that. But as a prime holder I personally feel some sense of "responsibility" to purchase from Amazon. Its quick and convenient and generally consistent. That is the "hook" which Walmart does not have. Amazon (much like apple) has a way of making their product and services feel in some ways "premium" compared to the competition. You see a similar dichotomy with Target and Walmart. All are great companies though and easily investable if the price is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I pretty much agree with all that you say. I just don't know that something like "premium" or its derivatives has a place in mass retail. It's pretty much failed every single time and price has won every single time as far as I can see. This is also the reason why Amazon started by selling books. It was a fairly large category and books were basically the highest markup retail product. Amazon won that category hands down on price. When you say "it's quick, convenient, consistent", you're basically saying logistics. Given WalMart's expertise in this field I don't see why they won't be able to match or even best Amazon if they put their mind to it. It certainly looks like that for the past year or so they've definitely put their mind to it. So it could very well be that Amazon will get a real fight coming to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHaul Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 These studies show Walmart being cheaper than Amzn https://lendedu.com/blog/amazon-walmart-target-price-comparison/ For 2 minute comparison shopping I think it is worth it to compare. I think Walmart does have some other advantages over AMZN 1. Buying scale in certain areas. 2. More trustworthy company (IMO) as they screen suppliers more (at least in the store). 3. Not as flooded with fraudulent reviews and cheap crap. 4. Less annoying advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabuffo Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 I think Walmart's biggest advantage is grocery. They dominate grocery (at least in physical store sales) as it makes up 55% of total US Walmart revenues (~$180B in annual net sales). Amazon is a non-player in grocery (though they made a splash with the acquisition of Whole Foods). To put it in perspective, Walmart's grocery sales are bigger than Amazon's TOTAL NORTH AMERICA net sales. I still believe grocery is a poor fit for on-line sales (witness the numerous disasters - Webvan, Peapod, even Amazon Fresh). There are numerous reasons why most grocery will not work with on-line delivery (except for maybe some packaged dry foods). Amazon has advantages vs Walmart in other areas - but Walmart is the 800-lb gorilla in US grocery and its a very important segment that entails frequent store visits. wabuffo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boilermaker75 Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 I've automatically just go to AMZN but this thread will have me checking out WMT for my next purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest longinvestor Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I cancelled prime membership more than a year ago. There're very few items from my past Amazon purchases that I don't find on Walmart.com. I have not paid a penny in shipping cost at Walmart to date. Used to price compare and Walmart and Amazon are competitive on the stuff I buy. I'm a regular at Walmart Online Grocery. Forget about price and convenience, the store associates who load the car are the epitome of customer service. They truly seek to delight. There's something about this personal touch in the world of online shopping that could mean something important down the road. The cost avoidance by way of ZERO incremental transport of the product I purchased (For me, Walmart-DC-to-store, Store-to-my-car) is a winning strategy I believe for Walmart. This simply improves their cash cycle even more; they are simply building upon their old business model. I'm happy to be a little more responsible by way of planning my grocery pick up the day before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbreject Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Same. I don't have prime, so Walmart's free 2 day shipping really helps. I also feel like the products are in better shape, because Walmart doesn't have as many 3rd party sellers and they're stricter on returns. But I have to admit, even without prime, my last 2 Amazon orders have all been delivered within 2 business days (whereas it used to be 10-14 days before.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cherzeca Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 kindle, video fire, music, next day delivery...dont even need Alexa to make decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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