Walmart Price Match Ends

I have included a lot of great coupon links as well as money-saving ideas on my blog and I have always been a pretty thrifty shopper. I don’t know how I missed this one but wanted to share the story with you.

Last week I went in to Walmart to grocery shop. I found an item that I thought was priced high and I had seen it somewhere else a little bit cheaper. I went to the cashier to ask about what they needed for the price match and she stated that they do not do price matching anymore effective late 2016. She got her manager to come over and explain to me their policy. What I was told was that if I looked online at walmart.com and found it cheaper there, they would honor that but that was the only price match that they were allowed to do. I stated then why would I drive so many miles to go to walmart when I could just shop locally at Safeway? What was the incentive for me to continue to shop there? I went home and searched the internet on this and found the following announcement on this:

**     “From price-matching local and online competitor prices to its own “Savings Catcher” program, Walmart offers customers a variety of ways to save a few buck on their bill. But shoppers at some stores will soon have one fewer option for saving money, as the big box retailer is ditching in-store price matching at 500 locations, though the company currently refuses to say which stores are on that list.

Under the outgoing policy, Walmart allowed customers to bring in local competitors’ ads and if the prices were lower for a product, they would be able to purchase that item at the cheaper price.

Starting June 9 2016, a rep for Walmart stated that 500 stores will ditch that policy as a way to streamline and make saving easier for customers.

Since Walmart isn’t saying which stores — or even which regions — are affected by this policy change, the only way for customers to know if they can’t price-match is when they get to the store. The changes will be announced in-store with blue signs at registers, and managers will be on hand to assist customers.

In lieu of the Ad Match program, the 500 stores will offer new “significant, long-term” rollbacks on thousands of items that were commonly price-matched, including consumables, groceries, paper products, and other products.

Walmart says it sees the change as a way to make saving easier by getting everyday prices down.

The retailer says it will still allow customers to price-match if they see a product selling lower on Walmart.com. Additionally, they can continue using Walmart’s Savings Catcher program.

For now, Walmart doesn’t anticipate expanding the no-price-matching policy to stores outside of the undisclosed 500 locations.”  **

So, how will this affect your decision to shop at Walmart? Will you shop elsewhere?

I look forward to your comments.

Have a blessed day!