Two major e-commerce superpowers are going head to head. Walmart and Amazon are in hand-to-hand combat for your credit/debit card.
Tomorrow, July 15, 2015, will be Amazon Prime Day. To honor Amazon’s 20th anniversary, they will offer deep discounts and thousands of deals. Shoppers can expect new deals as often as every ten minutes. This is in addition to Amazon Prime’s two-day free shipping and free online streaming entertainment. But there’s a catch. Only Amazon Prime members, those who pay $99 a year, can take advantage of Amazon Prime Day. They’re saying these deals are so good they’ll rival Black Friday. America’s leading retailer Walmart saw an opportunity. They called out Amazon for only giving certain people these special deals. One Walmart blogger said the retail conglomerate is, “…standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.” So Walmart offers their own sale in direct contract to Prime Day. They’re offering deeper ‘rollback’ deals, lower shipping minimums, and what they call ‘atomic deals’. Could consumers expert a Walmart Prime Day? They’re working on it all summer long. A potential Walmart Prime Day may include benefits like a $50 charge for complimentary three day shipping for up to a year.
This competition between the top ?e-commerce retailer and top physical retailer is going to get interesting. Between you and me, I never liked Walmart. I don’t like the way they treat their employees, bullied small businesses out of house and home, and fueled the wealth inequality gap in this country. But they have a point about offering this deal only to Amazon Prime customers. Why should I have to pay almost $100 a year and join an exclusive club just to take advantage of a once a year deal? Don’t Amazon Prime customers get enough perks? Since this is only once a year, can’t you offer Amazon Prime Day to the general public? For once, is Walmart right?