Walmart’s online prices came closest to Amazon’s, averaging just 2.9% more. Jet.com pricing was 12.3% higher than Amazon’s and Target’s was 16.9% higher, according to a report at eMarketer.
Prices were analyzed by e-commerce analytics firm Profitero on some 52,000 in-stock items at all online sites in a three-month period from June through August of this year. Price comparisons were done on identical items in 13 product categories, including appliances, baby products, electronics and 10 others.
According to the Profitero study, Walmart led in one category, beauty products, with a 1.4% edge in pricing. Walmart was also closely competitive in several other categories, including baby products, music, furniture, pet supplies and sports and outdoor products with a gap was less than 2%.
Prices at specialty retailers like Staples and Walgreens had the widest gap — more than 40% higher than Amazon. Among category retailers, PetSmart’s Chewy.com came closest to Amazon pricing on identical goods, averaging 7% higher pricing.
How big a deal is this? Pricing is the primary reason that U.S. consumers purchase products from Amazon. Overall, 74% cited pricing as their main reason for buying from Amazon in a June study conducted by Yes Lifecycle Marketing. Other top reasons to shop Amazon were convenience (60%) and Amazon Prime benefits (51%). These preferences were relatively consistently spread across shoppers’ age groups.
eMarketer noted that the comparisons did not include private label goods that, by definition, are available only from a single retailer. This is becoming a more important category of product not only for shoppers at the lower end of the income distribution but also at the high end.
Cash Back Credit Cards Have Never Been This Good
Credit card companies are at war, handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers. A good cash back card can be worth thousands of dollars a year in free money, not to mention other perks like travel, insurance, and access to fancy lounges. See our top picks for the best credit cards today. You won’t want to miss some of these offers.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.