Bentonville, Ark. — Walmart announced a series of back-to-school promotions on more 400 in-store and online items, and formally debuted an online Savings Catcher tool that will provide e-gift cards for after-the-fact pricing differences.
To use the Savings Catcher tool, a consumer can enter his receipt number and shopping trip date on Walmart’s website or through its mobile app. Should a cheaper price be available for an identical item in the consumer’s local market, he will be awarded an e-gift card for the difference.
The retailer has been testing the tool in a handful of markets the past several months, and it will become available nationwide Aug. 4.
The back-to-school promotions, which begin Aug. 1 and are timed to coincide with sales-tax holidays in several states, will feature such deals as:
*16GB Apple iPad 4 with Retina Display$349 (originally $399);
*16GB Apple iPad Mini for $399 plus a $50 Walmart gift card;
*Nextbook 7.9-inch tablet $79 (originally $99);
*RCA Pro10 tablet with Walmart-exclusive case for $99 (originally $149);
*Acer Intel-Celeron laptop bundle with wireless mouse, one-year antivirus, laptop sleeve and Skype credit for $299;
*Dell Intel Core i3 laptop bundle with a wireless mouse, one-year McAfee LiveSafe Antivirus and a laptop sleeve for $399;
*HP Intel-Pentium laptop for $299 (originally $349);
*HP AMD-A8 laptop for $349;
*HP AMD-A8 touchscreen laptop for $449;
*Toshiba Intel-Celeron laptop for $349 (originally $398);
*Toshiba 17-inch laptop for $499;
*Canon 2920 wireless printer for $39;
*HP Envy 4502 wireless printer for $69 (originally $89);
*Hisense 40-inch LED TV for $239;
*Beats Solo headphones for $169 (originally $199);
*Logitech M325 wireless mouse for $14.97 (originally $19.97);
*Netgear AC1200 dual band router for $119 (originally $149); and
*Toshiba 1TB hard drive for $69.
Walmart will also host a Cyber Monday event on its website on Aug. 4. Philip Oaks, Walmart e-commerce merchandising VP, said last year’s back-to-school Cyber Monday event was its “biggest day” outside of the holiday shopping period.
Deals for this year’s event include the following:
*HMDX Bluetooth Headphones for $19.99 (60 percent savings);
*HP Deskjet 1512 inkjet all-in-one printer for $25 (50 percent savings);
*9-inch 8GB Nobis tablet with case and keyboard for $79 (20 percent savings);
*Sceptre 32-inch 720p LED TV for $149 (17 percent savings)
*$40 off GoPro Hero3+ (with gift card); and
*$100 off Straight Talk prepaid Apple iPhone 5c ($549) and iPhone 5s ($649).
Oaks said no rain-checks will be given for out-of-stock items, but added, “We are backing up those items with a lot of inventory. Our goal is to be in stock.”
