Major Retailers Stepping Up Competition For Consumer Dollars This Holiday Season
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Amazon is not alone when it comes to online shopping as other major retailers step up their game to compete for consumer dollars this holiday season, but who comes out on top?
"Amazon is the place that most people think of first, and that convenience factor is there," Regina Conway, of SlickDeals.net, said. "Walmart and Target have both started to work to compete against that."
And last year, when Katie Valdes from Altadena planned a last-minute ski trip with her family, she turned to Amazon.
"Went on Amazon, found them a pair of ski pants, ordered them and had them in one to two days," she said.
But Conway said Amazon doesn't always have the best deals. Slick Deals is a crowdsourced shopping platform with 11 million users who vote and vet the best online shopping deals. She pulled data from last year for Amazon, Walmart and Target.
"Amazon has about 82% of the best deals as voted on by our community compared to Target and Walmart," she said.
But, when it comes to deep discounts, Conway said Walmart usually wins out on home improvement items, while Amazon offers better prices on books. However, she said shoppers should check all three retailers, even on shipping.
"Amazon still wins out on convenience, but if there's a chance that you have a Walmart close by, or a Target close by, you might be able to get something sooner because they can ship it directly from the store," she said.
In most cases, Walmart and Target required a $35 minimum purchase for free shipping. The minimum for non-prime Amazon free shipping is $25. An Amazon Prime subscription costs $119 annually or $12.99 monthly. For those who have a Target Red Card, either credit or debit, shipping is always free on Target.com.
KCAL9 decided to put the three retailers to the test, ordering three products from Amazon, Target and Walmart to see just how shipping times and delivery costs stacked up.
All three retailers charged the same amount for a cookbook, while Walmart charged about $3 more for a water bottle and toy.
On Amazon, all three items were shipped for free with an Amazon Prime account and arrived the following day.
For Walmart, the water bottle shipped for free, but the cookbook cost an additional $5.99 for shipping. The cookbook and water bottle were delivered in two days, and the Nerf toy arrived in five.
And for Target, the water bottle shipped for free, but the retailer would not ship the Nerf toy unless the shopper spent $25 or more.
"That particular toy is available through Target.com to be picked up at one of many Targets in the Los Angeles area in as soon as an hour of ordering it," Target said in a statement.
The water bottle was delivered in three days, and the cookbook arrived in five.