Amazon and Walmart Battle for Online Customer Dollars Today
Walmart (WMT) is running a rival online sale to Amazon's (AMZN) today. Amazon, which touts its Prime Day event today as 'more deals than Black Friday,' said that it would offer 'thousands' of bargains on items like gadgets, tools, toys and pet supplies, and that offerings might be refreshed as often as every 10 minutes. To qualify for the deals, shoppers must be members of its Prime service that costs $99 a year, or can sign up for a free 30-day trial. But Walmart has been critical of Amazon's sales saying, 'We heard some people are having a big sale on their site this week, but there is one catch: You have to pay $100 to get the lowest prices,' Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said. 'To us, the idea of asking customers to pay extra to save money just doesn't add up.' To entice customers to its site, Walmart also said will feature 'thousands' of great deals. Amazon shares closed at a record high Tuesday, ahead of the Prime Day sale today.
