Last month, Brad Olson, the founder of Gottadeal.com, told CNNMoney.com he couldn't understand why Wal-Mart would threaten to sue him over leaking the company's ads to the public in advance of their drop date. After all, he reasoned, it was "great publicity for Wal-Mart."
At the time, Wal-Mart company spokesperson John Simley insisted that the leaks had to stop. He said, "We believe that the unauthorized distribution of [Wal-Mart ads and circulars] is a violation of our legal rights. This needs to be respected."
Now, as it turns out, Wal-Mart and other retailers that previously took issue with Mr. Olson's site, Dealtaker.com, Bfads.net and others have changed their mind. The retailers have come to view these sites as points of free advertising and retailers are so interested in getting it that they are leaking news of deals in advance of them hitting the street.
According to a New York Times report, Pacific Sunwear, CompUSA and OshKosh B'Gosh are among those who have leaked news of upcoming deals to the websites.
Pacific Sunwear, for example, had an employee send the retailer's upcoming Black Friday ad to Bfads.net because it had not been posted earlier this month.
Michael Brim, the founder of Bfads.net, said told The Times that the cooperation his site is receiving from retailers is "definitely a change of pace from a few years ago when they all wanted to file lawsuits against us."
Ron Defeo, a spokesman for Home Depot, said supplying the sites with upcoming deals makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, the sites are becoming increasingly popular and consumers "are looking for the information." Secondly, the company assumes the sites will gain possession of and publish the information anyway. "We want to make sure they get the accurate information," he said.
Back to Wal-Mart... now instead of threatening legal action, the company is sending thank you notes to the early bird websites.
Shannon Doung, associate marketing manager at Walmart.com, wrote to Mr. Brim earlier this month. "I checked out your site today and yesterday and we pulled some traffic reports - great job. Almost over 43,000 clicks just yesterday alone. Thanks for giving us a nice write-up on your front page. Keep up the great work!"
Discussion Questions: What factors do you believe are behind retailers 180 degree change of position on websites that publish sales deals before the official ads come out? Do you see this new and cozier relationship changing when the economy gets better and retailers feel more secure in how business will perform?