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SALT LAKE CITY — A gigantic battle between two giants of retail keeps getting bigger.
Walmart and Amazon are now squaring off on same-day delivery.
Analysts say Walmart's decision to experiment with same-day delivery of online purchases is a strategy aimed directly at its biggest online competitor, Amazon.
"People tend of think of Amazon as the Walmart of online, so the challenge of Walmart, that Walmart faces, is 'How can Walmart be the Walmart of online?'" explains Today Show consumer finance writer Allison Linn.
People tend of think of Amazon as the Walmart of online, so the challenge of Walmart, that Walmart faces, is 'How can Walmart be the Walmart of online?'
–Allison Linn
In three markets, northern Virginia, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, Walmart is testing same-day delivery of online purchases for a flat $10 fee.
"Everybody knows that as we get closer to December 25th, you're much more likely to do something like pay $10 to have something delivered to you same day. So, it's great for the consumer because we want that convenience right now," Linn says.
Linn says the battle between the two retail giants escalated last month when Walmart stopped carrying Amazon's Kindle e-reader, and bodes well for consumers.
"In my mind, the winner here is the consumer because now you're finally seeing these two compete in a way that really benefits the consumer in terms of convenience and price," she says.
Walmart goes into this with what some see as a huge advantage, the more than 4,000 Walmarts, Sam's Club or other divisions that could be transformed into distribution centers, while Amazon has fewer than 40.
