Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)’s Savings Catcher

According to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)’S BOGO offers was just a test that was conducted in Florida only. The company has now introduced Savings Catcher which will bring an end to the matching offer test. By doing this the company is bringing its Florida policy in line with the company’s overall policy.

This news wasn’t received that well by all the shoppers especially those who started coming to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) just to enjoy the benefits BOGO matching offer offered.

Savings Catcher allows customers to go online and type in their receipt number; it can also be done using smartphones. Once the number is entered Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) compares costs from grocery stores in the surrounding area. If the user qualifies for savings then those are added to Walmart gift vouchers which can be used in the future.

According to Savings Catcher Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) does the math on differences in prices, which is based on the advertised price of the competitor. It works like this; Wal-Mart calculates the difference between the prices of the two products and then gives that amount to the shopper in savings. The difference is calculated on the price of two Wal-Mart items vs. two BOGO deal items.

Savings Catcher has been around for more than a month now and has saved shoppers around $3Million all over the country. That’s why starting Monday, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) will stop matching its competitors BOGO offers and instead use the Price Catcher. So this is the last weekend to take advantage of this BOGO policy in Florida, which had become quite popular.

As mentioned earlier the savings are loaded on to a Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) rewards e-gift card or a Bluebird by American Express card, to be used later on in the store. It is true that the customers will not save as much because for almost a year, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) had been paying a heavy cumulative price to attract customers. Since they were being price matched with Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices, customers were saving a lot.

The happiest is the customer on a time crunch, who doesn’t really bother collecting ads, doesn’t remember to bring them to the grocery shop, doesn’t have the time to get them price matched with kids howling to go home. Now these customers will let technology do the price matching for them, which is easy and convenient.

As stated earlier customers can use their receipt number online or on their smartphone application and all the items which they have purchased will automatically be price matched around that particular Wal-Mart location. You can also register your phone number using this app or any in-store debit card reader, and every time you buy groceries, just enter your phone number to get everything price matched and the savings loaded on your gift card.

A big downside however, is the fact that if customers want their price matched on BOGO deals they would have to purchase two items. This can potentially get complicated as customers in Florida have become used to the old BOGO matching policy.