With foreign newcomers like Lidl and Aldi landing on our shores, and online services like Amazon creeping onto an already crowded grocery battlefield, traditional grocers are willing to do whatever they can to keep customers coming back. At Kroger, that means slashing prices on popular staples like milk and eggs, in an effort to signal to customers that their stores have the best deals on the everyday items they need. [More]
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Jet To Stop Selling Costco’s Kirkland Signature Products
By 6.13.17
If you like Costco’s Kirkland Signature line of store-brand products — encompassing everything from laundry detergent to vodka — but aren’t a Costco member, you’ve had the option of buying some Kirkland items online at Jet.com. But now that Walmart owns Jet, those Kirkland items will be going away. [More]
Imminent Arrival Of Lidl Supermarkets Means U.S. Stores Are Renovating, Lowering Prices
By 6.12.17
Walmart and Aldi are currently locked in a price war for national grocery domination, with Walmart demanding price cuts from suppliers to help it cut prices for consumers in turn. Yet the company’s price war will soon have a new front in some markets, as another German discount grocer, Lidl, opens its first U.S. stores. Both Walmart and Aldi, as well as other stores nearby, are figuring out how to beat a rival that hasn’t opened any stores on this continent yet. [More]
Walmart Has A Giant Grocery Vending Machine For Online Order Pickup Now
By 6.6.17
Back in November, Walmart began testing a giant orange vending machine that allowed online customers to pick up their orders without having to wait in line or talk to other people. Now, the company is reportedly testing a similar system, but for online grocery orders. [More]
Walmart Employees Now Delivering Packages To Your Front Door
By 6.1.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Two-day free shipping, online pickup discounts, grocery pickup — these are just a few ways in which Walmart has tried to up its online shopping game while staying competitive with rival Amazon. Today, the big box retailer rolled out its latest effort: sending associates to customers’ houses with orders in hand. [More]
Pranksters Who Spent Two Days In Walmart Were Sick Of It After 35 Minutes
By 5.25.17
If the idea of spending 48 straight hours in a Walmart store sounds like 47.5 hours too many, you’re not alone. Even the two guys who pulled off that dubious accomplishment recently say they were sick of the place not long after walking in. [More]
Is Walmart Catching Up With Amazon In The Online Shopping Race?
By 5.18.17
In the world of retail, bricks-and-mortar retailers have one common enemy: Amazon. Walmart may finally be catching up with the e-commerce giant, reporting a 69% jump in online sales last quarter. [More]
Walmart Customer Tackles, Frees Deer From Pet Food Aisle
By 5.18.17
Every once in a while we hear of a wild animal heeding the call to be more human-like by wandering into an establishment that is markedly not for them — from bargain hunting beavers to a seal pup taking a booth at a restaurant. The latest case of animals going not-wild comes from Minnesota, where a deer decided to do some sampling in the pet food aisle of a local Walmart. [More]
Walmart Lowering Grocery Prices To Prep For Battle With U.S. Newcomer Lidl
By 5.16.17
Walmart is already engaged in a price war with one Germany-based discount supermarket chain, Aldi, and now it has to prep for competition from a second low-cost German grocer, Lidl, which is set to open its first U.S. stores this summer. [More]
Walmart To Pay $7.5M After Denying Spousal Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
By 5.16.17
A federal court judge has approved a $7.5 million settlement between Walmart and current and former employees who claimed that the the retailer unfairly discriminated against them by denying health benefits to their same-sex spouses. [More]
Former Walmart Workers Say Company Treated Thousands Of Pregnant Employees Unfairly
By 5.15.17
A pair of former Walmart employees say the nation’s largest retailer illegally required pregnant workers around the country to perform heavy lifting and other ill-advised physical tasks.
[More]
How Aldi Plans To Beat Walmart’s Prices On Groceries
By 5.11.17
For many of us, the most important thing about shopping for groceries isn’t the technology at the checkout line, or the number of artisanal ketchups available; it’s about getting a decent product for the best possible price. Aldi is hoping these pragmatic shoppers will help it win a price war with America’s largest supermarket chains, including Walmart. [More]
Report: Amazon Blocked Walmart’s Shopping Bots From Getting Pricing Data
By 5.10.17
In the crowded arena of online shopping, speed is of the essence if you want to keep up with your competitors’ prices: If you aren’t quick enough, your rival could undercut you. A new report claims that Walmart is trying its hardest to automatically track Amazon’s prices, but it’s not having much luck. [More]
Amazon Drops Free Shipping Minimum To $25
By 5.9.17
Online shoppers are benefitting from the e-commerce battle between Amazon and Walmart. Amazon has once again lowered its minimum for free shipping for non-Prime orders, from $35 to $25, undercutting Walmart’s minimum by $10. [More]
Still Playing Catch-Up Online, Target Tests Next-Day Deliveries For Pantry, Household Items
By 5.8.17
After years of not doing much as online competitors like Amazon and Walmart.com made it easier to buy things like paper towels, detergent, and condiments without leaving your house, Target is finally testing a program that will give some of its customers the ability to get one-day shipping on household items. [More]
The Most Precious Treasures Of The Raiders Of The Lost Walmart
By 5.8.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart is a recurring series here at Consumerist, where the brave explorers who read this site excavate their local discount stores, finding ancient treasures along the way. What we mean is that readers send us pictures of overpriced electronics that are obsolete or even unusable, and that will probably never leave the clearance shelves. [More]
Walmart Files Patent For Amazon Dash-Like Device
By 5.5.17
In yet another example of Walmart’s effort to increase its online presence and best rival Amazon, the big box retailer has filed a patent for an automatic home ordering subscription system similar to Amazon’s “Dash” buttons. [More]
6 Things We Learned About Walmart’s Love-Hate Relationship With Online Sales
By 5.4.17
Despite decades of being the biggest name in bricks-and-mortar retail, Walmart has yet to repeat that success online. The company recently went on an e-commerce buying spree — snapping up Jet.com, ModCloth, MooseJaw, ShoeBuy, and possibly Bonobos — but will that be enough to compete with Amazon? [More]
