Walmart won’t directly challenge Prime Day
Walmart is apparently passing on countering Amazon’s Prime Day sales extravaganza this year.
In past years, Walmart ran a concurrent “Deals for Days” promotion to match Prime Day, which takes place July 12-13 this year. But there is no such promotion currently listed on the chain’s website and a Walmart spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the discount giant will not offer any specific sale or promotion to compete with Prime Day.
Instead, Walmart plans to rely on heavy discounts it is currently offering on many items to help maintain sales during the Prime Day period. In addition, Walmart just launched a back-to-school initiative. Touting “incredible prices,” the retail giant said it is offering more than 100 of the top school supplies under $1, with items starting at just a quarter.
Has Walmart already competed?
Walmart has also offered several other Prime Day-like sales events in recent months. From June 2-5, 2022, Walmart hosted Walmart+ Weekend, an online savings event exclusively for Walmart+ members. Only members had access to discounts, but Walmart also used the event to drive membership in the Walmart+ paid subscription loyalty program.
According to data from Numerator, the average Walmart+ Weekend spend per order was $69.75, above both the average Walmart.com order size ($64.99) and Amazon Prime Day 2021 ($54.17). Close to half (47%) of Walmart+ Weekend orders were placed for $100 or more (compared to 27% of Amazon Prime Day orders).
However, Walmart+ Weekend average orders per household (1.2) total was less than half that of Amazon Prime Day 2021 (2.9), Interestingly, nearly three in four Walmart+ Weekend shoppers (74%) are also Amazon Prime members. Walmart also hosted an “early spring” online sale for Walmart+ members in late February,
Target counters Prime Day
Target, which has also launched a major back-to-school promotion, is holding its annual “Target Deal Days” digital sales extravaganza Monday, July 11 – Wednesday, July 13. As it did in 2021, the discount giant is hosting Target Deal Days one day earlier (and longer) than Prime Day. Unlike Prime Day, Target does not require membership in any type of paid loyalty program to participate.
Prime Day is a big deal
Amazon’s annual Prime Day extravaganza has become a significant sales driver not only for the company, but for numerous other retailers that have launched their own competing events. Adobe estimated that total U.S. online spending across retailers surpassed $11 billion during Prime Day 2021, which was held June 21-22.
The 2021 figure represents 6.1% growth compared to $10.4 billion in total Prime Day 2020 online revenue, which sharply grew 45% from the 2019 edition of Prime Day. The 2020 event was held in October during peak COVID-19 pandemic conditions.
As of July 6, 60% of Amazon shoppers knew the dates of Prime Day 2022 (July 12-13) and, of those, 57% plan to participate in the event, according to Numerator. Another 36% said they might shop on Prime Day. Only 7% do not plan to participate.