Poor Black Friday, being ambushed on one side by Amazon Prime Day on Wednesday, and now by Walmart's latest sale blitz on the other. In what USA Today calls a continuation of the "Walmart vs. Amazon fight for retail domination," Walmart announced in a blog post today that it, too, will be launching some deep online discounts on Wednesday, and it got a not-so-subtle crack in against Amazon while announcing this sale "for everyone." "We've heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale," it says in the post, an apparent reference to the typical $99 cost of an Amazon Prime membership (required to make a purchase on Prime Day). "But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn't add up for us. … We're standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save."
USA Today notes Walmart's sale, which will last for 90 days, will include more than 2,000 online "rollbacks," as well as "some special atomic deals"; the company has also lowered the minimum order cost to qualify for free shipping from $50 to $35 for at least the next 30 days. These aren't the only retailers turning the summer months into a holiday-inspired shopping spree, the paper notes: Target's "Black Friday in July" ends today, and Best Buy has a Black Friday-style sale set for July 24-25. And still other stores, including JC Penney and Macy's, have fallen prey to "language creep," using terms like "door busters" and "Black Friday" throughout the rest of the year, notes Forbes. Some experts think the plan may backfire. "It is a strategic mistake," a VP at a retailer consultancy says. "They are getting shoppers accustomed to seeing that level of promotional offers the whole year," which she says "desensitizes shoppers." (What won't be sold at Walmart: ISIS cakes.)
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