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Wal-Mart Asks Suppliers for Lower Prices, Fewer Ads

1 min read

In line with previous reports, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville is asking suppliers to cut back on advertising in order to pass along those savings to its customers.

Bloomberg Business reports that:

The retail giant asked vendors earlier this year to stop mentioning its name in their ads, urging them to direct resources toward cutting prices instead. The idea is if suppliers spend less money promoting their products, they can pass the savings on to Wal-Mart — and its shoppers.

That means the “available at Wal-Mart” message is disappearing from commercials for blenders, cleaners and other products promoted on late-night TV. In Sunday newspapers, meanwhile, the frequency of Wal-Mart circulars that advertise specials is down by about half from a year ago.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman tells Bloomberg that the retailer believes “that our suppliers’ best investment for our customers is an investment in price, not an investment in co-op advertising or a temporary discount.”

While some vendors say Wal-Mart’s pull back on some forms of in-store advertising is hurting their sales, Wal-Mart seems content to push ahead. This, a CEO Doug McMillon and Greg Foran, the leader of the retailer’s U.S. stores, bring the company’s focus back to Sam Walton’s “Everyday Low Prices” mantra.

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