Wal-Mart slashed online prices of books and DVDs, sparking a battle among its competitors in a war for Internet sales.
The price cuts mean consumers can cash in on great deals heading into the holidays, but the savings are found online and not in the brick and mortar stores.
Daniel Binder, an analyst with Jefferies & Co. in New York, said Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon typically get into price wars this time of year.
“Every holiday season they pick a few items,” he said. “This year it’s books and DVDs.”
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, announced last week that it would lower online prices of new DVDs such as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Star Trek” to $10.
Amazon followed suit by reducing its DVD prices to $9.99 which prompted Wal-Mart to cut prices to $9.98.
Mack Benton, 27, browsed DVD titles at the Brainerd Road Wal-Mart on Thursday. He was unaware of the online price war but said he would consider checking out the prices there.
“That sounds like a good deal,” he said. “I don’t usually buy movies (online) but I might now.”
Wal-Mart, which generated more than $400 billion in sales last year, was embroiled in a book price war with Target and Amazon.com in October that resulted in online pre-order prices on titles such as “Under the Dome” by Stephen King and “Ford County” by John Grisham as low as $8.98.
Sarah Boehle, a Target spokeswoman, said the store cuts prices on certain items every holiday season. She said Target checks rivals’ prices.
“Target continually shops the competition, so guests don’t have to,” Ms. Boehle said. “Our guests can be assured they’ll find the best prices at Target this holiday season, regardless of competitor price cuts.”
The $10 prices are for 10 popular online preorder DVDs, but once the products hit store shelves the prices will revert to the standard prices, she said.
Officials at Wal-Mart and Amazon did not return calls seeking comment.
Mr. Binder said the price war is fiercer than in the past.
“It seems to be a little more this year, but I wouldn’t say the tactics are different,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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