Just as shoppers are getting closer to their peak holiday shopping days, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. this week escalated the online price war it set off last month with books, offering pre-ordered DVDs priced at $9.98—down from list prices close to $30—and free shipping at Walmart.com. Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. countered with their own, slightly less generous, offers on their e-commerce sites.
"This will be a challenging holiday season for our customers, and we recognize that more of them are choosing Walmart.com every day as the web site with the lowest prices," says Raul Vazquez, CEO of Walmart.com.
Walmart.com is offering the $9.98 price and free shipping on each of its 10 most highly anticipated movie DVDs, such as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Star Trek.” Those two DVDs are marked down from Walmart.com’s respective list prices of $28.99 and $26.99. Wal-Mart compiles its top 10 list from market demand information provided by DVD publishers.
Amazon.com countered with its own list of 10 highly anticipated DVDs, priced at $10 for pre-orders. But it offers free shipping only with orders of $25 or more.
Target Corp.’s Target.com came out with an offer closer to Wal-Mart’s, offering pre-ordered DVDs at $10 each with free shipping included.
Wal-Mart is No. 13 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Amazon.com is No. 1 and Target, No. 20.
Wal-Mart kicked off a similar price war last month, offering pre-ordered books at Walmart.com for just $10 with free shipping. Amazon.com countered with its own $10 price with free shipping on orders of $25 or more. Walmart.com and Target.com then dropped their book pre-order prices to $8.99, including free shipping on all orders at Walmart.com and on select orders at Target.com.
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