Profitero today published its 8th annual Price Wars study, comparing online prices for more than 13,000 products across 22 major U.S. online retailers. For the eighth consecutive year, Amazon led as the lowest-priced online retailer, with an average price advantage of 14% over its rivals. However, competitors closed the gap compared to last year when Amazon had a 16% price advantage.
Target showed a solid year-over-year improvement, with online prices just 13% higher than Amazon's - vs 16% last year. Target made the most progress in Home Furniture, Household Supplies and Beauty, closing the price gap with Amazon by 5 percentage points and tying Walmart for second in Toys with a 2% price difference from Amazon.
Walmart continues as Amazon's closest price competitor, with only a 5% price difference on identical items, though slightly less competitive than last year's 4% price gap.
Best Buy Upped its Game: Best Buy rose to second in Video Games — a popular holiday category — with prices 9% higher than Amazon, edging out Walmart. The retailer also tied Walmart for lowest prices in Appliances.
Chewy nips at Amazon's heels: Chewy remained competitive in Pet Supplies, with prices just 1% above Amazon.
It's Fashionably Close in Fashion: Nordstrom improved its price competitiveness in Fashion, tying Walmart at 5% higher than Amazon.
"While U.S. inflation has dipped to its lowest point since 2021, consumer confidence remains sluggish, leaving shoppers more cautious as they approach the holiday season. In this climate, retailers that can consistently offer value and keep prices low will be the ones most likely to capture traffic—and wallets," said Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero.
To read this year’s report and to find out more about how retailers compare in price, please visit: https://www.profitero.com/report/price-wars-us-2024
Only identical items available and in-stock in the same pack configuration were compared. Data was collected daily over 12 weeks (July 8 - Sep 29, 2024), with daily prices averaged over the full period for comparison. Prices for the same items were collected within 24 hours of each other to ensure validity of the comparisons. To refer to past Profitero Price Wars studies, please go to: profitero.com/insights.
Retailers featured in the study included: Amazon, Albeebaby, Best Buy, Chewy, CVS, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gamestop, GNC, The Home Depot, Kohls, Lowes, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Petco, PetSmart, Sephora, Target, Ulta, Walgreens, Walmart, Wayfair
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