Black Friday; Wal-Mart vs. Amazon

With Black Friday just two days away, I came across an article about the Wal-Mart/Amazon rivalry that has emerged on line. It makes sense but I had no idea how much Wal-Mart was ahead of Amazon in terms of sales dollars: $405 billion in sales compared to Amazon's $20 billion in sales (last year's totals). It will be interesting to see how there price war continues, and if Amazon will be able to match Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart prides itself on having the absolute lowest prices, but will Wal-Mart.com stay true to that goal. The two giants have their unique competitive advantages: Wal-Mart's is offline, which avoids shipping costs and Amazon provides the convenience of not having to leave the computer.

I think Amazon will reduce its sales gap with Wal-Mart. Living in a convenience and technology based society, means that more people are around their computers than willing to make the cross-town trip to Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart may have lower prices, affluent people would rather purchase a produce online. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Black Friday is different this year, due to the recession. Happy early Thanksgiving!