Walmart Expanding Online Grocery Service to Charlotte and Fayetteville

Walmart Stores Inc is increasing its pickup service for its grocery orders online, pushing deeper into the industry where Target, Amazon.com and Google are all battling for customers.

Previously, Target, a Minneapolis-based retail giant, had only matched prices at its own stores. Raymond James upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th.

Target is also expanding the list of stores that they accept for Price Match.

Reuters could not immediately reach Target for comment outside regular USA business hours. Price has become an all-important selling point for retailers as online competition increases and more consumers turn to their phones and the Web to comparison shop.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.is preparing a round of layoffs as early as Friday that would affect hundreds of employees at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, according to people familiar with the situation. In the past, you could only price match at the actual Target stores.

A quick glance at Target’s website on Wednesday shows the retailer selling a Schwinn 170 stationary exercise bike for $399.99. The price matching initiative will begin on Thursday.

Target’s latest change in policy follows the lead of Walmart, Best Buy and Staples, all of which match their online prices with online rivals, the AP reported. And it’s going up against niche online competitors as well, such as Drugstore.com and Wayfair.com. Squire said that only 2 percent of shoppers end up submitting a price adjustment claim, though the mere presence of price matching can help attract customers regardless of if the service is ultimately used. But it does not appear to be a lot because Reck said price matching does not have a material impact on the retailer’s financial results. Target (TGT) recently announced that it will partner with online delivery company Instacart to deliver groceries for a small fee.