The Walmart logo is displayed on a shopping cart at a Walmart store on August 15, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, reported a surprise decline in second-quarter same-store sales today. The retailer also cut its revenue and profit forecasts for the fiscal year.
Walmart may not be able to undercut Amazon’s online sales, but it can certainly try to land a rhetorical uppercut on the e-commerce giant’s chin.
The world’s biggest retailer took a jab at Amazon this week for creating a sales holiday -- Amazon Prime Day (July 15) -- that requires a $99 subscription to take advantage of deals and discounts. Walmart also took the opportunity to kick off its own series of deals.
“We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale,” Fernando Madeira, the chief executive of Walmart’s website, wrote in a blog post on Monday. “But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us.”
That same day, the retailer began offering discounts on various items across its website. The promotion was set to run for this week only. On Wednesday, Walmart also lowered its minimum requirement for free shipping to $35 from $50.
"We're standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save,"Madeira wrote.
Amazon spokeswoman Julie Law said the company was so "laser-focused" on the sales holiday, which marks Amazon's 20th birthday, it didn't have time to concern itself with rivals.
"In all honesty, we have been working on preparing deals for Prime Day for many months, securing thousands of deals, more than Black Friday," she said in an email to The Huffington Post, referring to the day in November when retailers kick off the holiday shopping season.
Facing declining sales and foot traffic, big-box retailers such as Walmart have intensified their focus on e-commerce divisions over the past year.
This isn’t the first time Walmart has locked horns with Amazon, its chief competitor online.
Last year, when Amazon was embroiled in a fight with publishing giant Hachette over e-book prices, Walmart lured customers to its own website with sales and speedy shipping on the publisher’s titles.