Authored by Carly Hart in Personal Finance
Published on 10-24-2009
In general, choosing to shop at Walmart versus other competing grocery stores saves consumers money. However, there are other money saving strategies that can help save money at Walmart. These strategies include price awareness, buying and trying Walmart’s Great Value brand items and effective coupon usage. All of these strategies add up to a winning formula for knowing how to save money at Walmart.
Because Walmart has a price matching policy, taking a competitor’s ad into Walmart during a shopping trip can reap extra savings. Though managers have final say, typically if the competitor’s ad is from the local area, Walmart will match the price listed in the ad. Walmart does have restrictions to its price matching policy, however. Walmart will not price match double or triple coupons, buy one get one free offers or online advertisements. Black Friday or Christmas shoppers can use competitor ads to buy merchandise at a deep discount, making holiday shopping less stressful and time consuming.
Walmart accepts manufacturer coupons, including Internet printed coupons. Coupon savvy customers should limit the total number of coupons per order to less than 40, since using 40 or more coupons in a single transaction will require a customer service manager’s approval. Walmart does not double coupons, so coupons valued at $1 or above are best suited for use at Walmart to obtain the best deal on a product. One good way to save money at Walmart is to carefully read a coupon’s language. Unless the coupon specifically forbids usage on trial sizes, a cents off coupon can be used on the smallest size product. Using a high value coupon on a trial size when applicable often means the product will be free or nearly free after coupon.
Knowing what a good price on an item is another strategy to use to save money at Walmart. Walmart’s prices are everyday low prices, whereas grocery store prices fluctuate. Keeping a list of grocery and household items that are usually the cheapest to buy at Walmart saves money because shoppers who are aware of prices will avoid paying significantly more for an item at one store if they know that they can get the same item cheaper at Walmart.
Walmart offers many Great Value generics which often taste or perform just as well as a brand name product. Choosing to buy a generic brand helps to save money because the generics are often significantly cheaper than the name brand product. In fact, there are over 5,000 Great Value products available at Walmarts across the country. Switching from a brand name to a comparable generic for food and household items can result in significant savings. Best of all, Walmart offers a money back guarantee on its Great Value products. If the product fails to taste or perform as well or better than its competing name brand product, the consumer can request a refund of the full purchase price.
Making the most of Walmart’s price matching and coupon policies are just two strategies to use to save money at Walmart. Using coupons in a savvy manner as well as trying the Great Value brand in lieu of brand name products also helps to save money at Walmart. For best results, shoppers may wish to print the price matching policy and/or the coupon policy to take with them the next time they shop.
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