When Walmart announced it was going national with its Savings Catcher price match program in 2014, the move was widely seen as the chain’s attempt to solidify its low price leadership position, particularly related to dollar stores. In the roughly two years since that announcement, something has changed because Walmart has confirmed that it is ending Savings Catcher in 500 stores on June 9.
Or will it?
Until now, Savings Catcher has worked by allowing customers to receive the lower price at the checkout if they show a competitor’s ad on the same item. While it’s true that Walmart no longer plans to manually match competitors' ad prices in its stores, the chain will continue to offer Savings Catcher on its mobile app. That version of the program automatically compares items purchased to competitive ads in the local market and gives customers a gift card for the difference.
For those customers in the affected stores who do not have Walmart’s mobile app, the chain is rolling back prices on thousands of items.
- Walmart Eliminates Ad Matching, Lowers Prices in Hundreds of Stores – Coupons in the News
- Walmart to Discontinue Ad Match Policy in 500 Stores – InvestorPlace Media/NASDAQ
- Walmart is axing a popular ad-matching tool at 500 stores — and its a brilliant move – Business Insider
- Walmart to go national with price match program – RetailWire
- Walmart makes ad price comparisons easy – RetailWire
Source: Walmart/Google Play