Walmart's same-store sales recently slowed as the retailer took hits on sales of big-ticket items because of late tax refunds and a late spring. But the company continues to gain market share in groceries and consumables.
It can thank, in part, the hundreds of local-market-basket price-comparison ads it has running in 70 markets. The ads show Walmart shoppers comparing receipts from competitive grocery chains to the prices they could have gotten at Walmart.
While competitors have objected to the discount giant's comparisons and asked state attorneys general to investigate in some cases, no formal probes have been launched. In an interview during Walmart's recent shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Ark., Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Quinn outlined how Walmart thwarts legal challenges, as well as its most recent effort to target fuel discounts, a mainstay of supermarket loyalty-card programs.
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