Amazon has been promoting Prime Day. It is a two day sale–July 15 and 16–with good savings.
So you may see articles talking about Walmart and other retailers doing their own sales so as to not be out done. The thing is, you do realize that sales totally went against Walmart’s original philosophy. While back in the old days, when Walmart was still just a brat on the corner trying to upend retail, you had Zayre, Kmart, Treasure Island, Woolco, W.T. Grant, Richway, Target and others that thrived off sales. We would rush to look at the Sunday’s Newspaper to see what was going to be on sale the coming week. It was also a way to see what change in merchandise was happening because the sales generally revealed new inventory. Those stores didn’t carry the same merchandise week after week. They always had something new to bring you through the door.
Then came that brat Walmart. “We are not going to do sales. We are we going to have everyday low prices. And when we need to promote a product we will call it a price rollback. We won’t call it a sale.”
So when Walmart starts talking about a sale, even if it is for their online store, it is still a pretty big change in philosophy. It is as big of a change as getting rid of their door greeters, putting up damn metal bars, pushing self check out, and having their stores with surveillance cameras that not only constantly video tape you but begin to profile you the second you walk through the door. In other words, today’s Walmart is no longer your Granny’s Walmart. It is behaving exactly the same as the retailers they put out of business. Think about it.
The change at Walmart is a HUGE opportunity for new retailers to become that friendly place Walmart used to be. Will other retailers take advantage and do it? Probably not.