Dive Summary:
- A technical glitch on Wal-Mart’s e-commerce marketplace experienced a major pricing glitch on Wednesday as lucky shoppers took to social media to revel.
- Online shoppers visiting Walmart.com were offered merchandise normally priced at hundreds of dollars for as little as $9 and a can of Lysol sold at more than $100.
- Shortly after the reported pricing debacle on Walmart.com, the site itself was taken offline, most likely contributing to lost sales for the retail titan.
@Walmart @webzappr I ordered 50 kayaks and 100 speakers. You better honor it!
— albert marsh (@AlbertMarsh) November 6, 2013
Dive Insight:
Walmart has not yet made it clear whether it plans to honor the heavy discounts on merchandise affected by the glitch and ordered by shoppers. “We’re still working through those details and will follow up with customers,” said Walmart spokesperson Ravi Jariwala. The pricing abnormalities spanned across numerous departments and included a wide range of merchandise.
Update: Walmart says it will cancel orders from shoppers that were affected by the price glitch. Anyone inconvenienced by the incident will be sent a $10 e-gift card redeemable on future purchases.