Wal-Mart Announces Aggressive Holiday Price Matching Initiative

After nearly ten quarters of declining profits, America’s most prolific retailer is hoping the coming holiday season marks a turnaround.

Mega-retailer Wal-Mart has, according to the Washington Post, been working hard to reverse losses in recent months with mixed success after a few policies seem to have caused the sales woes. The paper details:

Wal-Mart’s U.S. business has been in a slump because of mistakes it made on price and selection. The company is reversing that weak trend and has seen three straight months of revenue gains, starting in July, as it finishes up restoring thousands of products it culled during an overzealous bid to de-clutter its stores… But reclaiming its reputation as the lowest-prices leader is critical to sustain the improving sales trend. The company, based in Bentonville, Ark., strayed from its bedrock philosophy of “everyday” low prices, and late last year, switched back to emphasizing low prices across the whole store, instead of promoting select items.

And while the retailer has been more aggressively pursuing price matching on the store level- encouraging team members to keep abreast of competitors’ deals to make the practice easier- a new holiday initiative takes the service a level further for consumers. There is a little catch, though.

In order to quell the somewhat casino-like aspect of Christmas shopping- when prices fluctuate without warning and deals can go either way after Black Friday- the retailer is implementing a price matching strategy to encourage shoppers to jettison worries of future discounts. Between November 1st and December 25th, Wal-Mart customers can receive a refund of the difference of any items purchased during that period if a lower price is found anywhere- which will be given in the amount of a Wal-Mart gift card.

Do you think such a policy will encourage you to shop more freely at Wal-Mart this holiday season?