Amazon, Wal-Mart start a price war

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 25 November 2009, 22:36 IST   |    7 Comments
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Amazon, Wal-Mart start a price war
New York: U.S. retailers Amazon.com and Wal-Mart are going head to head in an online price war, to the benefit of their millions of customers, reports the New York Times. Wal-Mart, traditionally a bricks and mortar retailer, has moved increasingly into the online domain and is now waging a public price battle with Amazon in product segments such as books, movies, toys and electronics. Since October, U.S. consumers have witnessed price drops of up to $10 on some items, with both retailers trying to outdo the other in order to boost market share in the growing online sector. With Amazon behaving more like a traditional retailer, the New York Times says it was only a matter of time before Wal-Mart challenged the world's largest bookseller. And Amazon's sales in the electronics market continue to grow - a sector in which Wal-Mart is a direct competitor. Wal-Mart and Amazon are fundamentally different companies, and for now, at least, Amazon poses little immediate threat to the behemoth from Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart, with $405 billion in sales last year, dominates by offering affordable prices to Middle America in its 4,000 stores. Amazon is relatively small, with $20 billion in sales, mostly from affluent urbanites who would rather click with their mouse than push around a cart.

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