According to The Associated Press, Walmart will be testing the strategy of online price matching prior to the Black Friday season this year. The Wall Street Journal stated that this testing strategy by the retail giant has already begun last month in the markets of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Phoenix, and northwest Arkansas, perhaps to battle the unreported growth over the last six quarters in Walmart’s physical store locations, which currently makes up 60% of its revenue. 

This Walmart experiment is perhaps not surprising when considering the activities of the market as a whole: the Detroit Free Press released that Kmart is closing physical stores in order to “focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail – at the store, online and in the home.” Following what seems to be a trend in the retail industry which is progressing in favor of the online space, Target is now offering free shipping on all purchases with no minimum amount. 

Source: Blackfriday .com