Whether you love or hate Walmart, if you're shopping there, you're most likely trying to save money. This famous chain is known for it's deals on groceries, clothing, and home items. It's also known for the occasional electronics or toys section. It's been proven that about 90% of Americans live within 15 minutes of a Walmart store.
The site claims that consumers spend $36.7 million every hour of the day at Walmarts worldwide. In 2016, the company's revenue was reported at $485.9 billion. However, many consumers don't really care how much the company makes, they just care about how their saving money. Here are some tricks to get the low prices even lower at your local Walmart.
1. Know When Deep Discounts Happen
Something you should definitely look for are Walmart's Black Friday deals. They can certainly be a steal depending on what item you're looking out for. In the days leading up to Black Friday, you should monitor product roundups so you can compare the products Walmart has listed compared to other retailers.
Gobankingrates.com says that many retailers, including Walmart, have a week or two of huge sales during July to compete with Amazon's Prime days. During regular days, Good Housekeeping states that many Walmart stores discount the most items for the best prices on certain days. The magazine suggests that Walmart has the best discounts on Tuesdays.
2. Find The Dollar Deals
Yes, the dollar menu at McDonald's might not be a thing anymore, but the dollar deal at Walmart still exists.
It's reported that certain grooming products like deodorant and shampoo, can be found for a dollar!
3. Shop Early For Grocery Discounts
Many people are aware that you should grab some day-old bread and baked goods early in the morning when unsold for from the day before gets marked down. However, the same can go for meats and other items that are nearing their sell-by dates. In fact, most Walmart butchers have to follow a routine for marking down meat.
You can ask them about which days they do this, or just keep watching to find a pattern. Either way, it's enforced to shop in the morning to grab the deals before they're gone.
4.Search For Competitor Coupons
If Walmart loves deals so much, why don't they have their own coupons? Well they do, for the most part. Here's a tip!
Walmart allows coupons turn into cash on your purchases, and they accept competitor coupons. The only rule is that the coupons must list a specific price, not just "20%" off.
5. Know Where The Discounted Items Are
Every Walmart store has a clearance section, all you need to do is ask a manager to find it. Many stores keep their marked down items near the toys of the lawn and garden section. You can also look for discounts in other areas as well.
Many electronics will be on the lowest shelves of the glass cases. End caps are also a prime spot for markdowns in most Walmart stores.
6. Get the Online Prices In The Store
If you see a deal you want to cash in on on Walmart's website, the company will match the price in-store. As with most price matching, the item must be the exact same product mentioned.
All you have to do is pull up the discounted item on your phone's browser, and the cashier will adjust it! If you shop strictly online, the company will match any Walmart.com item with the same item from several online retailers, including Amazon, Lowes.com, etc.
7. Get Free Shipping On Any Purchase
If you're more of an internet shopper, Walmart offers free shipping on any $35+ online order. For most cases, these items can be picked up on the same day as the order.
Sure, you have to leave your house...but it's worth it if you're really looking forward to your item.
8. Master The Price Tag Code
Although you may want to grab the new lamp or toaster the minute you see the sale sign pop up, you may want to keep this in mind. If a price ends in 7, such as $5.97, it's typically the original price. Items that end in a 5 have only been discounted once. Items that end in a 1 are at their final markdown price.
If plenty of the items are in stock and the price ends with a 5, you should probably wait a little bit seeing as the price will probably come down. If you don't feel like memorizing this code, Walmart also offers price protection. If you bought an item in the store and that same in-store item drops in price within the week you bought it, all you have to do is show the receipt to customer service within a week.
9. Know The Competition
If you didn't already know, there's currently a retail feud brewing, meaning you as the consumer can score big. Currently, two of the largest retailers Amazon and Walmart are trying to outdo each other for your business. When one announces a new shopping perk, the other comes back swinging. Walmart shoppers have seen several benefits from the rise of Amazon.
For one, in order to compete with Amazon's speedy prime shipping, Walmart just recently started offering free two-day shipping on orders of $35 or more. Plus, Walmart is testing grocery delivery through Uber and Lyft, as well as curbside store pickup, to compete with AmazonFresh. Keep your eyes open for these trends to save yourself time and money.
10. Skip Anything Organic
Walmart is sure all about unbeatable deals, but when it comes to organic items, it falls short. After some research it was found that stores such as Trader Joe's and Aldi have the lowest prices on organic fruits and vegetables.
However, the analysis found that Walmart has many organic products with prices on par with their non-organic counterparts. Looks like it pays to shop around.
11. Avoid Store-Brand Supplements
Of course you like to know what you're getting when you take a pill, right? And, you assume that what's written on the label is exactly what you're putting in your body. WELL, we're here to tell you that that's not always the case. It was recently found that many store-brand herbal supplements, including those at Walmart, did not contain the herbs they claimed to have.
The worst part? Walmart had the worst results. It seemed only 4% of the supplements tested actually contained the herbs they claimed to have.
12. Don't Be Sucked In By Cheap Furniture
Yes, Walmart furniture is cheap, and that's for good reason. The higher price tag means quality and longevity.
If you buy a furniture piece from Walmart, you might have to replace it so often that you actually spend more in the long run than you would on a quality piece. However, it is good for college students on a budget!
13. Use Coupons To Get You Cash
Not everyone likes to be a crazy coupon shopper! But it sure does pay to use them at Walmart. The chain is one of the few companies that allows you to credit excess money toward the rest of your order.
For example, if you buy an item on sale at $3.05 with a $4-off coupon, you can keep the balance of $0.95 and put it towards the rest of your purchases. Many stores don't have that perk, so you should probably take advantage of it if you see coupons. If you don't get them through newspapers and such, you can check online for coupons and Walmart-centric deals.
14. Find Refurbished and Clearance Items Online
Many Walmart shoppers will say that the website isn't the most helpful, especially if you're trying to find clearance or refurbished items.
The best trick is to simply type "refurbished" or "clearance" into the search bar, and the entire section will appear before your eyes!