The Truth About Walmart's 'Big Save' Event

Walmart is taking the offensive in their battle for online sales with Amazon this week. In response to the long awaited Prime Day, which starts tomorrow, Walmart has launched their "Big Save" event. Starting today and ending on Thursday, one day longer than Prime Day deals, Walmart's sale event will feature everything you love about Prime Day, including two-day free shipping, and Black Friday-sized discounts on thousands of items from electronics to toys, but there's also the option of in-store pick-up on select products that you might not want to wait for (via CNET). If you've signed up for Walmart+ at $12.95 per month, the retailer's membership program that rivals Prime, some items will even be eligible for next day delivery (via USA Today).

The good news, with two huge sales happening simultaneously, and the convenience of going back and forth on each site to compare prices on similar items, your holiday shopping could be done months in advance — or at the very least you could get a good jump-start on your shopping list. The bad news, your bank account is going to take a major hit this week because some of these sales will be too hard to resist.

Not to be outdone by their larger competitors, Target and Best Buy are offering deep discounts both online and at their brick-and-mortar stores in the hopes of luring shoppers in with the promise of same-day in-store pickup on most items (via The Oregonian). Target Deal Days and Best Buy's Early Black Friday Sale will run simultaneously with Prime Day on October 13 and 14. Both stores are offering bigger sales than ever before that will continue throughout the holiday season in response to coronavirus concerns which will limit traditional Black Friday events that, under normal circumstances, would signify the kick-off of the holiday shopping season.

While it seems like most shoppers will stick with the giants Amazon and Walmart this week, the savviest of shoppers could be lured away by the benefits of going with the smaller retailers' offerings. Best Buy, for example, is offering all shoppers a Black Friday guarantee which promises if the price on one of the deals they shop now drops before November 28, customers will automatically be reimbursed the difference. And much like Prime members scoring the best deals on products during Prime Day, Target Circle members will also reap greater benefits during their Deal Day sales, and signing up for their loyalty program is completely free unlike Prime which costs $119 annually (via Gamespot and Amazon).